GIS Activities at GIS Activities at GEOMAPGEOMAP

The Institute for Geospatial Analysis & Mapping

John KostelnickJon Thayn

Crystal Williams

What is GEOMAP?• Geography-Geology Department

• Dedicated in Fall 2007

• Self-sustaining initiative • Not base-budgeted

• Directed by Geography faculty & staff• John Kostelnick, Director• Jonathan Thayn, Associate Director• Crystal Williams, GIS Technician/Cartographer• Several affiliated faculty from Geography-Geology and other ISU

departments• Students

Mission and Vision

•Our mission is to support applied research that utilizes

state-of-the-art geospatial and mapping technologies such as

Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the Global Positioning

System (GPS), geovisualization, and remote sensing to enhance

understanding of the environmental and social

challenges facing our community, state, nation, and world.

•Our vision is to become the leader in applied geospatial analysis and

mapping among public universities in Illinois.

Research• Research in GIScience (GIS, geovisualization, cartography, remote

sensing, GPS, spatial statistics)

• Interdisciplinary collaboration a strong interest

• Range of interests:

Lab Facilities• 2 Teaching Labs (~24 computers each)

• 1 Primary Research Lab

(~6 computers)

• Software: ArcGIS Desktop 10, ArcGIS Server,

ERDAS Imagine, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop,

Flash, Flash Builder, SPSS

Project Consultation • Cartographic production

• Maps for publications such as books, journals, magazines, etc.• Historical maps• Wind farm mapping• Alumni per congressional districts

• GIS services• GIS analysis and database development for a range of projects• IEMA web mapping application• Web map for schools offering AP Human Geography

Outreach Activities• Family Science Day

• GIS Day - 3rd Wednesday ofNovember

• GIS Workshops• Internal and External Audiences

GIS Workshops

• Introduction to GIS• Introduction to Aerial/ Satellite Image Processing• Introduction to Web-Mapping and GIS• Next set offered this June• lilt.ilstu.edu/GIS/

Collaboration and Partners

• Internal partners and collaborators include: Biological Sciences, Sociology and Anthropology, History, Information Technology, Criminal Justice, Research and Sponsored Programs, Facilities Management, Admissions, CeMAST, Stevenson Center

• External partners and collaborators include: Illinois Department of Agriculture, Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Illinois State Geological Survey, Illinois Natural History Survey, McLean County local government, East Central Area Illinois Agency on Aging,National Geographic

GIS Curriculum in Geography-Geology• Five Primary Courses, Two in Development

• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) (GEO 300)• GIS Applications (GEO 304)• Cartography (GEO 300)• Cartographic Processes (GEO 351)• Remote Sensing (GEO 305)

• Introduction to Maps and Geographic Information Science (Course in Development, GEO 1XX)

• Web Mapping and GIS (Course in Development, GEO 3XX)

• GIS Graduate Certificates (Biological Sciences, Hydrogeology,

Information Technology) and GIS Certificate for Undergraduate

Geography Degree

Current Challenges

• Permanent funding for GIS Technician position

• Serving GIS students outside of Geography-

Geology with current course enrollment

limitations

• Software license and hardware costs

Here today, for tomorrow…