UC GIS Week

Housing the Ancient Maya of El Pilar

  Questions about sustainability of ancient Maya subsistence focus on the expansion of maize milpa at the expense of the forest. Working with Master Forest Gardeners and leveraging their Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of Maya house construction, our model considers the number of trees needed to build Maya houses. Using LIDAR data and GIS, we assess the capacity of the 20 sq.km. landscape of the ancient city of El Pilar to provide trees required for posts, beams, and rafters for 1,925 domestic structures occupied in the Late Classic (600-900 CE). We model the 20-year Milpa Forest Garden Cycle across the El Pilar cropscape to determine the annual availability of construction materials. Our model results show there are enough trees to construct and maintain all of the structures at El Pilar. Benefitting from TEK, in collaboration with Master Forest Gardeners, we are piecing together a new ecological narrative that demonstrates the sustainable balance of forests and fields of the ancient Maya. Personal Mapping: From Ancient Cartographers to Open-Source Explorers

This presentation traces the history of mapmaking, from early hand-drawn charts that reflected myth as much as measurement, to the complex digital landscapes we've made so accessible. It celebrates the wonder of open-source data and software, which have turned mapmaking into an act of collaboration and personal expression. Through the lens of personal mapping, we'll explore how maps are not just tools for navigation, but evolving works of art.

NASA Lifelines Data Series: Satellite Data and Tools to address Global Wildfire Challenges

While 500+ humanitarian applications already use Earth science data, adoption is limited by five key barriers: humanitarians often don't know what data is useful; what's available; how to access it; how to process it; or how to generate actionable insights. The Lifelines Data Series aims to address these challenges by creating curated packages of satellite data, tools, and educational materials tailored to specific humanitarian use cases (flood response, food security, displacement, etc.). In this workshop session, we will focus on global wildfire challenges and take a look at NASA Lifelines' Wildfire Data Studio Package. Through collaborative discussion, we will explore the applications of satellite data and tools in wildfire risk assessments, and discuss challenges and opportunities with using satellite technology. The session will also serve as a chance to pressure test the Data Studio structure and gather practical user feedback in a discussion-oriented environment, helping refine the tools to better meet community needs.

The Homelessness Hub at UC San Diego: Using GIS to understand a complex issue

The Homelessness Hub at UC San Diego is a research lab within the Department of Urban Studies & Planning. Our mission is to advance collaborative, equity-focused research, education, and policy on housing and homelessness, and GIS is an integral part of our work. We use Esri’s ArcGIS Hub to support and assist policymakers and researchers with spatial data collection, maps, and analysis. The GIS/Data Team is managed by a faculty researcher and includes post-doctoral fellows and undergraduate students. In this presentation, we will provide a brief overview of the Homelessness Hub and highlight a few of our GIS-focused efforts. These include integrating Esri’s Atlas mapping app with our publicly available data; ongoing mapping and analysis of evictions; and the creation of a Survey123 app and dashboard for the Downtown San Diego Partnership.