UC Merced Connect: GIS Brings Visual Element to Research

UC Merced’s innovative Spatial Analysis and Research Center is mapping the next chapter in its development with a new faculty co-director and efforts to show imaginative uses for geographic information systems tools.

Known as SpARC, the interdisciplinary center provides training, consulting services and support for the use of GIS and spatial analysis on a wide variety of research projects.

“We’re here to support anyone and everyone,” said Erin Mutch, the center’s manager. “You can’t do the research without trained students and faculty.”

SpARC, housed in the Social Sciences and Management building, offers computers loaded with GIS software packages, related equipment such as large-format scanners and plotters, and a staff with technical expertise. The center regularly hosts workshops, “spatial teas” and other events to introduce students and faculty to its core concepts and tools.

For example, GIS can be used to create sophisticated and multilayered maps that contain a large volume of information. Earlier this semester, Mutch quickly built a map of the Butte fire while it burned in the Sierra foothills. The map gained traction on social media, generating tens of thousands of views, and was used as an information resource by evacuees and several local media outlets.

The center has also helped scan and digitize features on historic San Joaquin Valley maps, assisted with a project to identify areas with commercial development potential at the Castle Commerce Center, and scanned archival maps from the Merced Irrigation District.

SpARC has also supported the work of history professor Ruth Mostern, one of the guiding forces behind the center and a faculty co-director until she stepped down from that role in August. Mostern is analyzing settlement patterns in ancient China with the help of GIS technology.

Taking Mostern’s place as co-director is Holley Moyes, an assistant professor and anthropological archaeologist in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts. Moyes is known for her exploration of the Maya culture and caves in Belize, and recently was named by Business Insider as one of the 15 most amazing women in science today.

Moyes said she’s eager to train more students and to talk to the campus community about the value of GIS in different kinds of research.

“If GIS training and experience is listed on a student’s résumé, they will have a distinct advantage as more employers and researches need GIS as a tool to support their projects,” Moyes said.

While the center itself is only a few years old, the idea of SpARC dates to 2005. The concept was the product of discussions between Mostern and engineering professors Shawn Newsam and Qinghua Guo.

Newsam, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and SpARC’s other co-director, expects the center to become more involved in research projects across campus.

“Spatial thinking is a critical skill and needs to be developed like other critical skills,” Newsam said. “SpARC is poised and eager to help the UC Merced community develop these skills.”

Le Grand students challenged to excel, achieve

UC Merced staff and administrators encouraged about 400 Le Grand High School ninth- through 12th-grade students to aim for a University of California education. The visit Nov. 19 was part of Achieve UC, a systemwide effort to deliver a simple message to students: College, and a UC education, is within reach.

UC Merced’s interim Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Life Brian O’Bruba urged the students to see themselves as college material.

“The support you’ve received from your family, your counselors and your teachers has prepared you for this opportunity,” O’Bruba said. “And we’re here today to make sure that opportunity extends to UC.”

Students and their parents heard about the UC’s strong financial aid program, including a video message from UC President Janet Napolitano emphasizing that cost should never be a barrier to attendance.

UC’s Blue and Gold opportunity plan, for example, covers the full cost of tuition for California students with family incomes of $80,000 or less. Other aid can help offset the cost of books, rent and other living expenses.

Now in its fourth year, the Achieve UC effort encourages students to pursue higher education. The message that a UC degree is both attainable and affordable will reach about 6,500 students across California this fall and next spring. Students can apply online through Monday for fall 2016 admission.

This story was originally published November 26, 2015 at 2:04 PM with the headline "UC Merced Connect: GIS Brings Visual Element to Research."