GIS Day Nov. 16

The Department of Geography and the Environment will hold its fifth annual celebration of GIS Day on Nov. 16, focusing on the use of geographic information systems to look at historical data.

This year’s GIS Day is titled “Visualizing Religion in Puritan New England: An Exercise in Historical GIS.” The event is open to the public and will feature speakers, an open lab, software demonstrations and a GIS-inspired cake decorating contest—with special guest judge Carole Weinstein. The day is part of Geography Awareness Week, a geographic literacy imitative sponsored by the National Geographic Society.

GIS Day is a global event that enables GIS users to showcase its real-world applications to schools, businesses and the general public. GIS, a computer-based tool used to map and analyze features and events, combines the power of a database with the visualization capabilities offered by maps. People use these tools in areas such as environmental protection, pollution, health care, land use, asset development and routing, natural resources, conservation, business efficiency and social inequities.

See the full schedule for GIS Day.