My name is Charlie Hornacek, I am a junior, studying environmental science and a minor in zoology. I enjoy cooking, playing football, and enjoying time with friends. I took this course as I thought it would be able to help have better understanding of then environment and give me good experience for later in my career as I would love to work as a park ranger or in the national parks.
As someone who is new to the GIS system , I found the information presented in “Introducing the Identities of GIS” to be useful in establishing a foundation for further learning. The various identities of GIS, including GIScience and GISystems, were explained in detail, making it easier for me to understand the different aspects of GIS technology. I also found it interesting to learn about the history of GIS and everything that was involved with its development. One of the more informative sections for me was the discussion on the importance of visualization in GIS analysis. Understanding the relevance of visual display and its ability to help me reach conclusions about factors affecting different cases. I had never really considered how a visual representation of geographic information could significantly impact decision making. The distinction between GIScience and GISystems was also helpful in clarifying the roles of each in GIS analysis. Making this clear is helpful for someone stating out fresh trying to learn.
The First topic I was interested in was the population of gray wolves in the United States as I have done a research project over the group of wolves at the Columbus Zoo which gave me a better understanding and a valued interest in this animal. So I was wondering if you could track the progress of the animals in the wild as this is a recovering species in the United States.
https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=da949c568f7a497d9ac2f4196f262e4a
The second topic I thought was interesting is invasive species as their is so many and is such a broad topic you have plants, animals, fungus I was wondering how gis could be used to maybe interpret the movements of these animals and use it to predict and stop the invasive species before they could get to a new environment.
https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70176086