USM has a well-equipped and fully-staffed GIS facility. This is comprised of a teaching lab in Gorham and a graduate lab in Portland. These spaces are variously equipped with computers, standard GIS peripherals, such as large-format color plotters, scanners and digitizing tablets, and a digital data library. The lab software includes a wide range of GIS and remote sensing software packages, including the full suite of ESRI GIS products, ERDAS IMAGINE, and IDRISI. The lab is also in the process of expanding the support of freely available open-source packages. The lab’s responsibilities include GPS and Total Station surveying capabilities. The lab, the hardware, the software, and the GIS staff are available to USM faculty, researchers, and staff for both teaching and research projects. The lab is also responsible for being an active resource for the community. The lab is supported with funds from the College of Arts and Sciences, the Muskie School of Public Service, the IRIS Institute, and external grants and contracts. It is asked that all users visit the link to the Acceptable Use Policy and abide by and respect both its letter and its spirit.

GIS Clinic

Every Wednesday morning from 9:00-12:00, there is a GIS clinic in the Lab. It is open to the faculty, staff, students, and the general public for anyone with questions or research regarding GIS. No appointment is necessary.

GIS Brown Bag Lecture

On Wednesdays from noon to 1 pm, there is a seminar open to anyone interested in GIS. Bring your lunch and discuss GIS with faculty, staff, and students. Each session, there will be a different topic of discussion, and occasionally, a guest speaker. Check out the lab calendar for the schedule of upcoming seminars.

Teaching resources

The lab was originally founded in 1993 as a teaching facility, and teaching remains a fundamental part of our mission. A suite of seven GIS courses are offered in the lab through the Departments of Geography-Anthropology, Geosciences, Environmental Science and Policy, and the Community Planning and Development Program of the Muskie School. In addition to these semester-long traditional courses, several USM faculty members use the lab to teach individual units of other courses. The lab is also periodically used to teach workshops and seminars. GIS software is installed in all of the general access student labs, and so is available outside the lab to anyone who wishes to use it for independent study.

Research resources

The GIS lab has recently expanded its research role. With support from the Research Computing Group and Information Technology User Services, many researchers at USM benefit from the ESRI ArcGIS software site license. The lab also has a suite of precision digital survey instruments, including survey-grade GPS units with geodetic capabilities, real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS, and Electronic Total Stations. At present the lab is supporting several funded research projects, and lab resources are written into several proposals in preparation or under review.

How to get GIS software

USM participates in and manages a statewide software license agreement with ESRI, Inc. This agreement allows the installation of ESRI software products for academic use on any university-owned computer for a nominal charge. For information about ESRI products that are available with this license, go to http://usm.maine.edu/computing/licenses/ and click on the links for information about ESRI software.

How to get GIS training

There are four ways to learn GIS.

1. Start up the software, and read the manuals. This can be quite hard work, as the software is fairly complex.

2. Use the tutorial package that installs when you load the software. This will teach you the basic operating procedures, but does not provide significant theoretical background.

3. Attend a GIS workshop. These can be designed and scheduled for any individual or group both on campus or off campus. However, depending on the nature and duration of the workshop required, and the target audience, it may cost money.

4. Take a GIS course. The best option.

How to use GIS in your teaching

To incorporate GIS into your teaching you can either use the Gorham GIS lab, or any of the other open-access student teaching labs on the USM campuses, LAC, or the off-campus centers. Please be aware, when planning your teaching projects, that the lab staff usually requires a couple of weeks notice to set things up. If you need specialized data sets, training, or more extensive technical support, you may need to schedule lab resources further in advance. If your teaching project falls outside the normal rubric of undergraduate and graduate teaching — for example if you are running an externally funded summer workshop — it may cost money. Contact the Chair of the GIS committee (David Harris, deharris@usm.maine.edu) or the Director of USM GIS (Vinton Valentine, vvalentine@usm.maine.edu) to discuss details.

How to use GIS in your research

The GIS lab, its staff, hardware, and software are available to USM’s faculty, researchers, and staff to support both funded and unfunded research projects. For funded projects lab resources can be written directly into proposals as a cost, or they can be used as match. In either case the plan of work and the cost structure must be discussed with and agreed upon by the GIS lab staff and the GIS committee before the proposal is submitted. No preference is given to projects that yield income over projects that require match. A limited amount of unfunded research projects can be supported by the lab by prior agreement with the GIS lab staff and the GIS committee. Priority will be given to those unfunded projects that have a clearly defined plan of work, and that are designed to lead to either a proposal submission, a funded project, or publication.

Technical support

The lab staff is charged with providing technical support for GIS software, hardware, and data at USM. Technical support priorities are:

1. Installing and maintaining GIS and GPS software and hardware at USM.

2. Supporting GIS and GPS teaching, funded research projects, and contracts.

3. Providing ad hoc technical instruction and fixes for users.

The Laboratory Operations Manager (gislab@usm.maine.edu) supervises the day to day operation of the laboratory. She will be happy to answer any questions, or to direct you to someone who can help you, if you need more information about using GIS resources.

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