Michela Arnaboldi, Earth and Environmental Sciences | 2022-2023
In ‘Climate Change and Sustainability: Environmental Challenges of the 21st Century’ students study the impacts of modern human society on land, ice, fresh water, ocean, atmosphere, ecosystems, resources, and human well-being. We also consider practical, local, and every-day considerations relevant to a sustainable human future.
In the lab portion of the course, small-group discussions and analysis of spatial data, utilizing ArcGIS software, are used to investigate the role and impacts of change, toward developing mitigation and adaptation strategies.
The ArcGIS labs in this class (ArcGIS Map Intro Lab, ArcGIS Biomes Lab, ArcGIS Water Lab, ArcGIS Biodiversity Lab, and ArcGIS Energy Lab) allow students to construct and interpret maps to understand sustainability from a spatial perspective and play a vital role in terms of satisfying the QR component of the class.
The ArcGIS labs are based on a dataset developed several years ago, before I took on the class in 2016. Since then it has become apparent that this dataset needs to be updated, allowing student to build maps and make spatial comparisons between countries based on recent data, rather than 20-year old information. Additionally, the lab activities need to be updated to accommodate the impending retirement of the ArcMap software in favor of newer options, like ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Pro.
This goes beyond my current ArcGIS literacy and what I can expect my GSIs to complete during the course of a semester while teaching labs and assisting with the lecture.