Environmental Geographic Information Science Projects at WWU's Spatial Institute

The Spatial Institute is an interdisciplinary center for environmental and spatial research housed in WWU’s College of the Environment. The Spatial Institute collaborates with students, staff, and faculty across campus, as well as with public agencies and the broader community. Faculty, staff, and fellows of the Spatial Institute are leaders in spatial analysis and education. The Spatial Institute supports the CENV in their goal of preparing undergraduate and graduate students for meaningful environmental careers by arranging applied, real-world work experience for our students as research assistants, interns, and teaching fellows.

The Spatial Institute’s talk will be led by graduate and undergraduate research assistants and will focus on highlighting the broad range of projects the Spatial Institute works on. These topics include using high resolution LiDAR data for mapping active river channels across Puget Sound, creating a transboundary assessment of climate and landcover change in the Salish Sea, developing a digital atlas focused on environmental history in the Upper Skagit Valley, and the assessing spatial patterns of wildlife collisions in Whatcom County. Each of these projects involves students, faculty, and staff working in collaboration with community agencies and organizations to use geographic information science and cartography to address regional needs for spatial environmental data and analysis.