UC GIS Week

Cautions to GIS Professionals in Context of California Statutes Defining the Practice of Surveying

Navigating the boundaries between land surveyors, engineers, professional geologists, and geospatial professionals is crucial for maintaining the integrity of each field. Although land surveying and geospatial work complement each other, they differ significantly in scope and focus. In California, surveyors are licensed by the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists and the activities exclusively reserved for Professional Land Surveyors are defined by the Professional Land Surveyors’ Act as codified in Section 8700 - 8805 of the California Business and Professions Code, specifically Section 8726 (a). GIS practitioners are at risk of being fined if their mapping work strays into the Surveyors’ domain. The California Geographic Information Association (CGIA) and the California Chapter of the Geospatial Professional Network (CalGPN) have launched an effort to inform GIS Professionals of this risk, to engage with the Surveying Community, and to advocate for clearer regulations. The speakers will focus on the recommendations document that was published in April 2025, and the current status of the work of the joint ad hoc committee led by CGIA and CalGPN.

Rural Atlas highlights differences in cancer incidence, proportion late stage, and survival using two different definitions of rurality

Background: Use of different measures of rurality has made it challenging to identify differences in cancer patterns and direct cancer control efforts toward rural regions. The UCSF Rural Atlas allows users to dynamically visualize differences in cancer epidemiology across the rural–urban dichotomy, specifically within the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (HDFCCC) catchment area. Methods: Percent rural and Rural Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes were selected to explore cancer rates within the catchment area for the five most common cancer sites (female breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, and melanoma). Relevant area-level demographic and cancer risk factor data were sourced from the American Community Survey (ACS) 2015-2019 and CDC Places (2023 release). California Cancer Registry 2018-2022 data were used to generate incidence rates, percent late stage, and 5-year overall survival. Results: The Rural Atlas (https://cancerregistry.ucsf.edu/rural-atlas) allows users to select measure of rurality, sex, and cancer site and explore the corresponding maps, tables, and figures. Using the Rural Atlas, we observed some regional differences between rural and urban areas. Prostate cancer incidence is lower in rural areas compared to urban areas in the Central Coast using the RUCA definition but higher using the percent rural definition. Male and female melanoma incidence was higher in rural areas using the percent rural definition, but using the RUCA definitions, lower rates of melanoma in rural areas of the Central Coast were observed. Proportion of late-stage prostate cancer was higher in rural areas of the San Francisco Bay Area, especially when using the percent rural definition. Male lung cancer survival was higher in rural areas using the percent rural definition, but lower using the RUCA definition, especially in the Central Coast. Conclusion: The Rural Atlas is a flexible tool for highlighting disparities in cancer patterns by rurality across regions and informing cancer control efforts.

How to use Health Atlas: A Visualization Tool and Data Resource for Place-Based Drivers of Health

Where we live, including the physical and social environments that surround us, influences our health in both positive and negative ways. Examining factors that vary across time and space such as access to food and housing, air quality, and social support can help reveal the specific effects environments have on health and inform neighborhood-based interventions. We designed and developed Health Atlas (healthatlas.ucsf.edu) to help users explore place-based factors that might influence health. Health Atlas is a curated public repository of data aggregated at different geographic units (e.g., census tracts, zip codes, counties) and across a wide variety of domains (i.e., demographic; socioeconomic; built, social, and structural environments; environmental exposures; health behaviors; healthcare access and use; and health outcomes). Most data are available across all 50 states in the U.S., plus D.C. and Puerto Rico. Health Atlas provides user-friendly tools for mapping and visualization, and a data download feature to support use of the data by researchers, community organizations, government entities, and public health professionals. We propose a virtual workshop to teach potential users of Health Atlas how to use the tool for their work. We will include content on: - Health Atlas 200+ variables - Selecting variables - Visualizing data - Selecting custom areas - Downloading data - Tips and tricks on how to explore data