Recent uci_libs_ucgisweek_22 items

GIS + Practice

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

‘Unmasking’ masked address data: A medoid geocoding solution

In recent years, there has been a consistent push for more open data initiatives, particularly for datasets collected by public agencies or groups that receive public funding. However, there is a tension between the release of open data and the preservation of individual and household privacy, whose balance shifts due to increased data availability, the sophistication of analysis techniques, and the computational power available to users. As a result, data masking is a standard tool used to preserve privacy, in which the data publishers obfuscate some identifying features in the dataset while attempting to maintain as much accuracy and precision as possible. For spatial datasets, the geocoding of administratively-masked data has been a consistent problem. Here, we present a medoid-based technique that geocodes masked data while minimizing the spatial uncertainty associated with the masking approach. Unfortunately,...

GIS + Engagement

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Shifting the Gravity of GIS to the Web

A modern GIS is a web GIS that revolves around data services, cloud architectures, configurable applications, and automation. However, the curriculum and structure of GIS education has not kept pace with these changes. Looking at the skills required in the field today, there is a clear mismatch with the desktop-centric GIS education that is still the foundation of many GIS courses and curriculum. This session will review the changes in industry and computing driving the need for changes in GIS education and it will also feature resources, case studies, and lessons to assist educators and students.

GIS Freelancing

I have been freelancing since 2017. In this course of time I have been able to complete 370+ projects in 5 years with 4•9☆/5•0☆ Rating. I want to guide GIS students to make a part time career in freelance sites like fiverr and upwork. I will arrange a workshop for guidance on how to make freelance accounts and...

GIS + Planetary Health

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

To Zero or Not to Zero? Reactions to a Deforestation Ban by Farming Systems in Paraguay

In December 2004 Paraguay passed the Zero Deforestation Law after years of high deforestation rates. This law banned deforestation in the Eastern region of the country. However, the law did not bring deforestation to zero, as the name suggests. High levels of forest loss continued. If deforestation continued, what did change? Forest loss in this region is driven by agriculture. Small subsistence-oriented farmers and large-scale commercial farmers coexist in Eastern Paraguay. In this work I bring together global spatial datasets on forest cover and land characteristics to look at how these different farming systems reacted to the Zero Deforestation Law. I use a variety of sources, including the widely used layers on forest cover loss from the Global Forest Watch dataset and from the Tropical Moist Forests dataset. I also generate my own spatial data layers from these and other spatial...

GIS + Society

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Enhancing Route Data for Paul Salopek's Out of Eden Walk

Since 2013, two-time Pulitzer Prize Winner (and UCSB alum) Paul Salopek has embarked on a 24,000 mile journey following the path our ancestors traversed from Ethiopia, through the Middle East, down to Southern India, Eastern Asia, and eventually crossing the Bering Strait into the Americas. The journey in its entirety has been logged by Paul Salopek, himself, and is known as the "Out of Eden Walk". This summer, as an REU Research Fellow with NSF and the Center for Geographic Analysis (CGA) at Harvard University, I used GIS to perform a multitude of calculations, interpolations and tools to enhance the some 7,500 miles that Salopek has currently traveled. A few of these calculations included finding the the true distance of Paul's route (accounting for changes in elevation and projection differences), enhancing each of the ~1.5 million GPS points with data on the surrounding population density, nearest village, land...

GIS + Health

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Expanding Care with GIS

Improving accessibility and outreach are critical in providing effective health care services to communities of all kinds. Combining spatially-aware strategies with location intelligent technology, health organizations can achieve a clearer understanding of their work at the population level and identify areas where service gaps or potential opportunities for collaboration may exist in local communities. This project, in collaboration with UCLA’s Asian Pacific American (APA) Health Care organization, aims to demonstrate how APA can adopt and implement GIS applications into their strategies and aid in improved decision-making as well as visualize client demographic, socioeconomic, and health data.

COVID Transmission

The Geospatial Agent-based COVID-19 Transmission (or GeoACT) portal is a browser-based gateway application that allows users to simulate and compare COVID mitigation strategies for K-12 schools. Scenarios with a range of...