Program Description

The role of spatial analysis in local, state and regional public health has steadily increased over the last decade with the infusion of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software such as ESRI ArcGIS.  The goal of this workshop is to provide an introduction to GIS with a specific focus on applications to public health. Through hands-on, immersive exercises using ArcGIS the workshop will prepare you to feel comfortable communicating with other GIS users, view and query spatial data, and produce high quality digital maps in an applied learning environment to support public health decision making.

This is an introductory level mapping workshop for novice GIS users, applicable to all public health fields. Topics covered include navigating the GIS software, basic mapping, development and processing of geographical datasets, working with Census and American Community Survey data, geocoding, spatial data analysis and cluster mapping to support decision making, and geographical data presentation.

Competencies

Participants will learn to:

• Navigate GIS software;
• Add and query spatial data;
• Download and map census data;
• Geocode addresses;
• Communicate data with maps;
• Conduct spatial cluster analyses.

Required knowledge/pre-requisites

A basic understanding of Microsoft excel, while not essential, is highly recommended.