Spark your research creativity! GIS Day on Nov. 15th

One of the great benefits of working/studying in a large university like SFU is the increased potential for innovative ideas and approaches to spread between subjects. If you can take the time to step outside of your own department or faculty now and then — and out of the box of your discipline's usual perspective —  you may learn something that allows you to see your own research area in a new way.

Take, for instance, GIS (Geographic Information Systems): this standard tool of the Geography Dept. has wide application in almost any subject. Visualizing, and thinking spatially about, a topic can unlock new insights obscured by standard data tables and dense text — regardless of whether you're analyzing supply chains, economic development, consumer behaviour, or housing prices.

If you're like me, seeing how others get the most out of a tool or resource can get you thinking creatively about ways to approach your own work. There's nothing like a series of lightning talks to <ahem> spark a fire. Consider registering for GIS Day on Nov. 15th for exactly that sort of creativity-sparking experience...

GIS Day @ SFU features presentations, lightning talks, and a Career Panel that will appeal to those new to GIS and those who are interested in seeing how GIS is used in research across disciplines and in industry. It's also a great opportunity for SFU faculty and student researchers interested in GIS to (re)connect with each other and learn!  

The presentations cover a range of interdisciplinary topics: the application of GIS/remote sensing in studying flood, hurricane, housing, vehicles in wilderness, equitable community planning, and more.

This in-person event will run from 9:15-3:00 on Nov. 15 in SFU's Bennett Library. You can register (free!) for the morning (presentations & lightning talks), the afternoon (career panel), or both. See our GIS page for details.

Let me know if you have any questions at all!

-- Mark

P.S.: I know a number of BUS/ECON researchers have been looking into the pilot availability of BC Assessment data. One of the sessions at GIS Day includes a talk by a REM grad student about research he's completed using that dataset: "Mapping the Variable Impacts of Zoning Restrictions on Housing Costs."
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Mark Bodnar
mbodnar@sfu.ca
Economics & Business Librarian