Andy Priest’s Middle Twelve: FW419

Middle Twelve Reflection:

What I learned from FW 419 Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Going into this class I did not know what to expect. Everyone I had talked to said that it was really hard class and don’t expect good grades. They were even more perplexed to find out I had never used the software program essential for the class, ARCGIS. Further, that I had only taken one class in relation to it called intro to geographic info, and it only touched upon GIS. But I was stubborn and thought that GIS would be a great tool for me in the future.

When I arrived at the class the first day the teacher Robert Montgomery gave us a list of terms and asked us what we knew about them. I was mortified because I did not know what any of the terms were. Further, I found out that half the class was graduate level students. This was turning out to be one scary first class.

As it turned out I had a knack for GIS mostly because I have always liked computers and know that when applied with software they can be used for advanced work. The class was very intense. We woke up early on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 8:00am for lecture, and on Wednesday we had lab from 11:30 – 2:20. On top of that we had homework that needed to be completed every week.

With all of that being said it was one of my favorite classes I have ever taken. I took the class knowing it would stretch me and succeeded at it. Not only that but my teacher told me, “You were a fantastic student and I believe that you helped keep the performance of the students at a very high level”. This made me feel really good about myself and thankful for great teachers who care about their students.

But what really is GIS? I haven’t actually told you…. Well when it comes down to it you have a map. Not just a map though because with a map you can do small analysis. Maybe distance or looking to see where specific spots are, but that is it. The capabilities of GIS are much further than that. When you add data to a map you can do a whole lot. You can make a project like the one I did for my final that showed progression of Asian Carp through Lake Michigan upon entry. In this project we took Lake Michigan Basin area data to make a projection and buffer of where a non native species of carp would be if they arrived in the Lake Michigan area. Not only that but we showed what rivers would be good for spawning of the carp, and where they would flourish. We did that based off of data we put into the ARC program on habitat that the carp liked, and how far they could travel in a year. We found that they liked turbid rivers that had a large flow for spawning. We then were able to show on our GIS project that we made a highlighted section of where the carp were going to progress and what their ideal habitat was. Pretty cool stuff and that is only after a full month of research and manipulation of data!

But if you want a real definition then here is one that adequately defines GIS.

GIS is a system of hardware, software and procedures to facilitate the management, manipulation, analysis, modelling, representation and display of georeferenced data to solve complex problems regarding planning and management of resources. (NCGIA, 1990)

I was very satisfied with my work in the class and my learning of the topic. It was a new type of learning for me and that was exciting. I was able to work on a project that meant a lot to me and I showed myself that I can do anything when I put my heart to it. I hope you all find classes that you know won’t be easy but do it because you believe in yourself. That is what college is all about. Pushing ourselves to be better than we first thought, we in a way are like ARCGIS we can do so much but we just need to learn how to use our tools to do it. We need to strive always, always strive.