GIS Director Charlie Mix presents a lecture about GIS mapping in the UTC Multi-Disciplinary Research Building.
According to Nyssa Hunt, mapping is a critical component of understanding our world and how we can take care of it.
“There are resources that are not infinite,” said Hunt, the assistant Geographic Information System (GIS) director for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Interdisciplinary Geospatial Technology Lab (IGTLab). “That’s a huge reason why mapping is important to us and our livelihood so that we can better take care of our world and ourselves.”
This is why UTC hosted GIS Day on Wednesday, Nov. 20, a worldwide day of celebration of the impactful work of GIS professionals and an opportunity to inspire future innovators.
The day began with a cartography workshop hosted by the IGTLab. GIS Director Charlie Mix shared with students, faculty and community members the different types of maps and data classifications—as well as how to create effective maps to tell stories with data.
“GIS is a subfield of data science where we’re really concerned on spatial data; it’s kind of everywhere, but people maybe don’t think about it because it’s so prevalent in our lives,” Mix said. “It’s on your GPS watch and your smartphone. It’s what we use to plan and manage cities—manage everything from biodiversity and climate change, logistics, identify the best locations for businesses, and is as a tool for solving equity issues.
“You name an industry, there’s a use for GIS.”
Hunt highlighted the opportunities available at UTC for those interested in GIS, including access to software such as ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online.
“We have licenses for everyone at UTC,” Hunt said. “People can log into free learning modules and learn GIS through the Esri Academy.
“There’s also myself and Charlie to help with teaching people GIS and the principles and the spatial thinking that is involved with mapping.”
She added that GIS mapping is something that anyone can do and that the IGTLab offers student positions to get involved in several area GIS projects.
“Our lab becomes a bridge between the University and the community—and even beyond the greater Chattanooga region,” she said. “We’ve had projects with people in Massachusetts, throughout the southeast region, and there’s a current project that is looking at regions across the country.”
GIS Day also featured presentations from GIS experts, including Paul Dudley, a location intelligence analyst with Tennessee’s STS-GIS Services, who discussed using GIS technology for statewide projects like imagery and LiDAR. Dr. Azad Hossain, a UTC environmental geoscientist, discussed his research on leveraging satellite data to study water quality, urban growth and environmental challenges.
For Mix, GIS Day is essential in sharing the value of GIS and how it can function as a tool for understanding and addressing complex global issues.
“We literally map the entire Earth every single day and monitor change in real-time,” he said. “GIS and remote sensing geospatial technology as a whole is one of the most undercelebrated achievements of our modern era.”
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