Category Archives: Geography Awareness Week

Mapping Masterminds Competition Results are in!

By Announcement, Geography Awareness Week, Map, Mapping Mastermind Contest, Story Map, , , , ,

Congratulations to the winners of our GIS Day Mapping Masterminds Competition – Atlas Chenxiao Guo and Trenton Major!

Mapping Masterminds logo (a brain with the ISU watertower and clocktower)


Please check out the Mapping Masterminds Gallery and Competition Showcase website to view all the submissions from both the 2024 and 2023 mapping competitions.

  • Winner of the Map Category – Mapping My Biking Journey with Distance of Distinct Traveled Paths
    Created by Atlas Chenxiao Guo from University of Wisconsin-Madison
    Map Description: This map shows all my biking tracks, including the majority in the US and few Chinese cities. All the circled track maps have the same scale. Each path is counted only once in the distance calculation. For more information Click Here!
This map shows all my biking tracks, including the majority in the US and few Chinese cities. All the circled track maps have the same scale. Each path is counted only once in the distance calculation.
Mapping My Biking Journey with Distance of Distinct Traveled Paths
Software/Materials Used: ArcGIS Pro; Adobe Illustrator
  • Winner of the StoryMap Category – Iowa Freedom Rock Tour
    Created by Trenton Major, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences – Iowa State University
    StoryMap Description: This Story Map displays the locations of Iowa’s Freedom Rocks and scenic routes. It is designed to help users navigate the Freedom Rock Tour within the state of Iowa.
This Story Map displays the locations of Iowa's Freedom Rocks and scenic routes. It is designed to help users navigate the Freedom Rock Tour within the state of Iowa.
Iowa Freedom Rock Tour
Software/Materials Used: ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS StoryMaps

Thank you again to everyone who participated in this year’s competition!

GIS Day Image with colorful background. Text says," GIS Day: INSPIRE THE WORLD WITH GIS."

Thanks for coming out to celebrate GIS Day with us!

By Education, Event, Geography Awareness Week, Outreach, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

On Wednesday, November 20, we had a great GIS Day celebration at The Catalyst in Parks Library. Thank you to library digital scholarship staff for hosting us and providing their expertise.

We had five speakers sharing on different topics:

  • CollectionBuilder for Historical GIS: an update on the ISU Historical Buildings Project – Erin Ridnour, Digital Scholarship Librarian, University Library
  • Tillage Detectives: Determining Residue Cover via Satellite – Bryce Pape, Graduate Student and Brian Gelder, DEP and GISF Co-Lead
  • Library Instruction with ArcGIS StoryMaps – Michael Cummings and Erin Ridnour, Digital Scholarship Librarians
  • Using Past Slope Failures to Prepare for the Future: A Case Study across the State of North Dakota – Beena Ajmera, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
  • Geospatial Modeling for Regional Trail Planning – Austin Dunn, Assistant Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture

Visit the ISU GIS Facility GIS Day website for more details about the speakers: https://www.gis.iastate.edu/gis-day-2024

The Iowa State Daily wrote a nice article about the event which you can read at: https://iowastatedaily.com/305503/news/gis-program-highlighted-with-annual-day-of-celebration/

Are you ready for GIS Day? Come Celebrate!

By Announcement, Event, Geography Awareness Week, Observation, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The ISU GIS Support and Research Facility and IowaView along with Parks Library will be hosting GIS Day 2024 on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in The Catalyst at Parks Library (Room 199) at Iowa State University.  This is a come-and-go event so stay as long as you would like. GIS Day is for everyone, from the GIS curious to the GIS user. There will be speakers throughout the morning sharing their research from around campus, information about GIS opportunities and programs on campus, free GIS swag, free food, and a map competition with prizes. 

Day 5 GAW: Have you discovered the Iowa Geographic Map Server?

By Education, Geography Awareness Week, Imagery, Iowa Geographic Map Server, Observation, Remote Sensing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Iowa Geographic Map Server is a gem of historical and contemporary statewide aerial imagery for Iowa from the 1930s to 2021. It also has many other statewide layers including:

  • elevation maps (LiDAR and USGS topographic maps),
  • historical maps (General Land Office survey maps from 1800s, Andreas Atlas, historic topography),
  • land cover maps (historical and contemporary)
  • geology (landforms and bedrock)

Here’s your challenge: Zoom into your city or a place of significance to you and discover how it has changed over the years, look at how the land cover changed, challenge yourself to find as many changes as you can.

Interested in learning more about the Iowa Geographic Map Server? Watch Gregg Hadish’s recent presentation, “Accessing Iowa Map Services in GIS and Web Applications,” for the Iowa Geographic Information Council September 2023 Lunch and Learn professional development series.

Day 2 – GAW 2023: Contribute to OPENSTREETMAP and MapRoulette

By Activity, Education, Geography Awareness Week, OpenStreetMap, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a publicly created and maintained map of the world – the Wikipedia for maps. Anyone with access to an internet browser can view the map and can sign up for a free OpenStreetMap account to edit and update the map. Edits to the map are reviewed and validated by other members of the community. If you are new to OpenStreetMap, visit their welcome page to a short introduction: https://osmgeoweek.org/guides/intro.

Here are several ways to get engaged with OpenStreetMap:

~ Review your local OSM basemap for accuracy and consider adding community features that are missing or need updating.

~ Spend time working on a Humanitarian OpenStreetMap project. For a current list of priority project visit: https://tasks.hotosm.org/explore

~ Only have a little bit of time? Consider MapRoulette, the game of mini mapping challenges, it breaks OSM work into snack-sized “challenges.” Earn points by fixing validation issues, turning nodes into areas, adding missing tags, and through countless other little tasks that contribute to a healthier map.

Happy Geography Awareness Week 2023 – The Power of Place

By Activity, Education, Event, Geography Awareness Week, Observation, , , , , ,

It’s that time of year again! We are celebrating Geography Awareness Week! November 13-17, 2023

The History of Geography Awareness Week:

Thirty-six years ago, the National Geographic Society advocated to create Geography Awareness Week. Geography Awareness Week is a way to celebrate and raise awareness of geography, both as a discipline and as a part of daily life. The National Geographic Society felt the limited exposure to geography in American education was a dangerous deficiency. Without proper exposure to geography, students are unable to make effective decisions, understand geo-spatial and geo-political issues, or even recognize their impacts as global citizens.
— see more at the National Geographic Website

To learn more about exciting careers in geography and the National Geographic MapMaker tool by visiting the National Geographic webpage: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/society/education-resources/programs/geography-awareness-week/

Mapping Masterminds Challenge as part of GIS Day 2023

By Activity, Announcement, Event, Geography Awareness Week, , , , , , , , , , ,

GIS Day is around the corner…please join us for festivities in the Parks Library in Ames, Iowa on Wednesday, November 15, 2023. For GIS Day details: https://www.gis.iastate.edu/gis-day-2023. Also if you have a StoryMap or GIS app or GIS poster or regular paper map – please enter the mapping competition. The competition is open to all, i.e. anyone else reading this, we want to see your mapping skills. 🙂 There will be prizes! https://tinyurl.com/mappingmasterminds

Celebrate with us today! 30 years of GIS at ISU!!!

By Activity, Announcement, Event, Geography Awareness Week, IGIC, Landsat, Landsat Golden Jubilee, NASA, Outreach, , , , , , , , , ,

Today is GIS Day! We are celebrating in the North atrium of the College of Design. Today is an especially exciting celebration as we are also celebrating the 30th anniversary of the ISU GIS Facility on campus and 50 years of the US Landsat, earth observing satellite mission. Please join us in the College of Design from 11:30am to 2:00 pm. We will have several activities, puzzles, refreshments, educational giveaways, and door prizes.

For additional information and directions, visit: https://www.design.iastate.edu/event-listings/2022/11/gis-day-open-house-event/.