{"id":54,"date":"2015-08-25T16:51:54","date_gmt":"2015-08-25T20:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/?p=54"},"modified":"2015-09-10T15:41:43","modified_gmt":"2015-09-10T19:41:43","slug":"gis-and-gps-an-integral-part-of-ursi-students-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/2015\/08\/25\/gis-and-gps-an-integral-part-of-ursi-students-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"GIS and GPS an integral part of 2015 URSI students&#8217; work"},"content":{"rendered":"<script>fsg_json['fsg_post_54'] = [\n{id: 81, image: 'http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/files\/2015\/08\/Black_Walnut.jpg', extlink: '', thumb: 'https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/files\/2015\/08\/Black_Walnut-150x150.jpg', permalink: '<div class=\"galleria-layeritem\"><a title=\"Permalink\" href=\"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/2015\/08\/25\/gis-and-gps-an-integral-part-of-ursi-students-experience\/black_walnut\/#0\"><div class=\"galleria-link-bookmark\"><\/div><\/a><\/div>', layer: '<div class=\"galleria-infolayer\"><div class=\"galleria-layeritem\" style=\"padding-right: 20px;\"><h1>Black Walnut<\/h1><p class=\"galleria-info-description\">Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) behind Skinner Hall<\/p><\/div><div class=\"galleria-layeritem\"><a title=\"Permalink\" href=\"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/2015\/08\/25\/gis-and-gps-an-integral-part-of-ursi-students-experience\/black_walnut\/#0\"><div class=\"galleria-link-bookmark\"><\/div><\/a><\/div><div class=\"galleria-layeritem\" style=\"padding-right: 20px;\"><\/div>'},\n{id: 73, image: 'http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/files\/2015\/08\/1990s_Arboretum_Map_1600px.jpg', extlink: '', thumb: 'https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/files\/2015\/08\/1990s_Arboretum_Map_1600px-150x150.jpg', permalink: '<div class=\"galleria-layeritem\"><a title=\"Permalink\" href=\"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/2015\/08\/25\/gis-and-gps-an-integral-part-of-ursi-students-experience\/1990s_arboretum_map_1600px\/#0\"><div class=\"galleria-link-bookmark\"><\/div><\/a><\/div>', layer: '<div class=\"galleria-infolayer\"><div class=\"galleria-layeritem\" style=\"padding-right: 20px;\"><h1>1990s_Arboretum_Map_1600px<\/h1><\/div><div class=\"galleria-layeritem\"><a title=\"Permalink\" href=\"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/2015\/08\/25\/gis-and-gps-an-integral-part-of-ursi-students-experience\/1990s_arboretum_map_1600px\/#0\"><div class=\"galleria-link-bookmark\"><\/div><\/a><\/div><div class=\"galleria-layeritem\" style=\"padding-right: 20px;\"><\/div>'}\n];<\/script>\n<div id=\"attachment_81\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a data-postid=\"fsg_post_54\" data-imgid=\"81\" href=\"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/files\/2015\/08\/Black_Walnut.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-81\" class=\"wp-image-81 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/files\/2015\/08\/Black_Walnut-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Black Walnut\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-81\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) behind Skinner Hall<\/p><\/div>\n<p>During the summer of 2015,\u00a0students participating in two different URSI\u00a0projects gained experience using\u00a0GIS\u00a0and GPS as an integral part of their work. These projects demonstrate some of the range of applications to which geospatial technologies can be applied to assist faculty in their research and help students gain valuable experience, from archaeology field work in the Catskill Mountains and to mapping and inventorying the trees of the arboretum here on the Vassar campus.\u00a0<!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>Archaeology in the Catskill Mountains<\/h3>\n<p>A team of four Vassar\u00a0students (Cayla Neipris \u201916, Dan Swerzensky \u201918, Drew Leventhal \u201917, and Dzifa Binka \u201916)\u00a0led by assistant prof. of anthropology April Beisaw\u00a0used GIS and GPS to help\u00a0<a title=\"Vassar Stories: URSI: Archaeology in the Catskill Mountains\" href=\"http:\/\/admissions.vassar.edu\/about\/stories\/features\/2014-2015\/150728-ashokan.html\">document the history of the Ashokan Reservoir<\/a> and its <a title=\"AshokanStreams.org: Exploring the Watershed\" href=\"http:\/\/ashokanstreams.org\/exploring-the-watershed\/\">surrounding watershed<\/a> over the past 100 years since its creation. <\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/78qqs6wFPC4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<p>Located in the Catskill Mountains less than 40 miles northwest of\u00a0Vassar campus, <a title=\"Wikipedia: Ashokan Reservoir\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ashokan_Reservoir\">the 8,300-acre\u00a0reservoir<\/a>\u00a0was created on the site of several former villages\u00a0to feed New York City&#8217;s water system. Students\u00a0consulted maps and GIS data provided by\u00a0<a title=\"Department of Environmental Protection - NYC.gov\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nyc.gov\/dep\">New York City Department of Environmental Protection<\/a>\u00a0and other sources, performed\u00a0multiple <a title=\"MAPS LIE, AND OTHER FIELD SURVEY FINDS\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dayofarchaeology.com\/author\/abeisaw\/\">field surveys<\/a>\u00a0armed with GPS units, and created maps using GIS software in the Anthropology lab with\u00a0the data they recorded, which informed their study of the area.<\/p>\n<h3>Vassar College Arboretum\u00a0Tree Inventory<\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_73\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a data-postid=\"fsg_post_54\" data-imgid=\"73\" href=\"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/files\/2015\/08\/1990s_Arboretum_Map_1600px.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-73\" class=\"wp-image-73 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/files\/2015\/08\/1990s_Arboretum_Map_1600px-300x268.jpg\" alt=\"1990s_Arboretum_Map_1600px\" width=\"300\" height=\"268\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/files\/2015\/08\/1990s_Arboretum_Map_1600px-300x268.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/files\/2015\/08\/1990s_Arboretum_Map_1600px-1024x916.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/files\/2015\/08\/1990s_Arboretum_Map_1600px.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-73\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arboretum Map c. 1990 (click for larger image)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The <a title=\"Vassar Encyclopedia: Arboretum\" href=\"https:\/\/vcencyclopedia.vassar.edu\/buildings-grounds\/grounds\/arboretum.html\">history of Vassar&#8217;s arboretum<\/a> dates back to 1865, when Mathew Vassar made the first plantings on what was a practically\u00a0treeless campus. Since then, a number of Vassar faculty, staff, alumnae and alumni have all contributed to making the\u00a0arboretum the\u00a0unique\u00a0exhibit of rare and common\u00a0specimens it is today. During the\u00a0summer of 2015, professor of biology Mark Shlessman and student Samuel Short &#8217;16 used GPS to inventory the specimens based on past maps of the Arboretum, which were created at different times as the collection has changed. The results of their work will be used to create a new map and provide documentation to an\u00a0<a title=\"Arbnet: Accreditation\" href=\"http:\/\/www.arbnet.org\/accreditation\">accreditation\u00a0body<\/a> that will formally recognize the\u00a0Vassar College Arboretum among other arboretums of the world.<\/p>\n<p>Based on previous surveys of the arboretum trees, the team\u00a0developed a list of existing species information\u00a0and other desired information about each tree to be verified and\/or collected in the field. Points were plotted to each tree&#8217;s\u00a0location based on\u00a0historic arboretum maps, matched with the existing species information and published to Vassar&#8217;s ArcGIS Online mapping platform. Then, using ArcGIS Collector on an iPad equipped with GPS, the team accessed the data on ArcGIS Online, navigated to each tree&#8217;s location, moved the point location if it was positioned incorrectly, and verified\u00a0and\/or recorded the appropriate information. The result is a comprehensive inventory of the arboretum trees.<\/p>\n<h3>How can you use GIS and GPS?<\/h3>\n<p>The GIS Academic Computing Consultant provided support for these projects through generating GIS data and maps, providing technical assistance and training to faculty and students involved, and performing troubleshooting on the technology used. For help with your project or how you might use geospatial mapping technologies like GIS and GPS, please contact the GIS Academic Computing Consultant at\u00a0437-7708 or email <a title=\"Neil Curri\" href=\"mailto:necurri@vassar.edu\">necurri@vassar.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the summer of 2015,\u00a0students participating in two different URSI\u00a0projects gained experience using\u00a0GIS\u00a0and GPS as an integral part of their work. These projects demonstrate some of the range of applications to which geospatial technologies can be applied to assist faculty &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/2015\/08\/25\/gis-and-gps-an-integral-part-of-ursi-students-experience\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5039,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-category-1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5039"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions\/130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/gis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}