GISCorps Volunteer Assists Run Her Way with GIS Needs
Run Her Way (RHW) is a global non-profit organization working to make running safer, more enjoyable, and more accessible for women and girls. Global research shows that 92% of women are concerned for their safety when they go for a run. Their mission is to empower women and girls to run with confidence – and without fear – by improving public running spaces.
They are using data-driven insights, stakeholder input, and local engagement to develop a framework and accreditation system for safer running environments. By generating evidence-based recommendations and advocating on behalf of female runners, they are working to transform their experiences and their trajectories.
In order to meet their goals, RHW requested the assistance of a GISCorps volunteer to support a pilot project in cities in the Netherlands to gather local insight through forms as well as visualize route data with the goal being a layered safety map that communities, policymakers, and runners can act on. The volunteer will:
- Transition open text forms to Survey123 forms
- Assist with data management for data type conversions, ArcGIS Online (AGO) data organization, and data mining to enhance local insights
- Train RHW representatives on ongoing use of AGO and potential further options for GIS project support
Following the recruitment, Stijn Kant, a GISCorps volunteer in Utrecht, the Netherlands is selected for this project and is in contact with Run her Way representatives.
Recruitment complete, project in progress.
Volunteer provides GIS assistance to Lemur Conservation Foundation in Madagascar
The Protected Area Management (PAM) initiative is a partnership between the National Geographic Society, Esri, GISCorps. This initiative seeks to facilitate and support the effective use of Esri’s ArcGIS Solutions for Conservation, which has been made available at no cost to protected areas throughout Africa through a partnership between Esri and the National Geographic Society. ArcGIS Solutions for Conservation provides protected area managers with a secure suite of configurable technology for better managing and protecting parks and sensitive conservation areas.
This project is in partnership with Lemur Conservation Foundation (LCF). The Lemur Conservation Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and conservation of the primates of Madagascar through managed breeding, scientific research, education, and art. Their founders envisioned a comprehensive conservation initiative where art complements science, research dovetails with education, and a breeding program in the United States provides a safety net for native lemur populations, supporting conservation programs in Madagascar.
LCF has been using ArcGIS Online (AGO) for a while for a variety of projects including but not limited to wildlife management, threat mapping, and forest patrol. They have developed several Survey123 for those projects. LCF is interested in working with a GISCorps volunteer to evaluate their current environment, share AGO best practices, validate the park’s boundary using the most appropriate tools (i.e. Field Maps), discuss application of other AGO products such as Experience Builder, Quick Capture, ArcGIS Hub, and last but not least leave clear and detailed training material behind (written or recorded). This is a three-month project; it starts with remote assistance followed by a 7-10 day on-site visit, and then several weeks of post-visit support.
Robert Hofstede, a GISCorps volunteer from the Netherlands, has been recruited to share his GIS expertise with LCF.
Recruitment complete, project is in progress.
PhotoMappers Admin Team
2024 Update:
The 2024 #PhotoMappers Admin team included Jonathan Clementi, Brad Fisher, Mackenzie Fox, Hannah Gonzales, John Haddad, Hannah Larsen, Keith Johnson, Emilie Pratt, Jason San Souci, and Dacey Zelman-Fahm. Erin Arkison, Holly Torpey, and Katie Picchione continue as the GISCorps Disaster Response Subcommittee as well as our newest member Monicque Lee. Rob Neppell of CEDR Digital Corps also supports the project. From NAPSG Foundation, Emma Montague provides technical support to maintain the PhotoMappers apps, while Jared Doke and Tari Martin manage connections with emergency managers.
2023 Update:
The 2023 #PhotoMappers Admin team included Jonathan Clementi, Brad Fisher, Mackenzie Fox, Hannah Gonzales, John Haddad, Hannah Larsen, Keith Johnson, Emilie Pratt, Jason San Souci, and Dacey Zelman-Fahm. Erin Arkison, Holly Torpey, and Katie Picchione continue as the GISCorps Disaster Response Subcommittee. Rob Neppell of CEDR Digital Corps also supports the project. From NAPSG Foundation, Emma Montague provides technical support to maintain the PhotoMappers apps, while Jared Doke and Tari Martin manage connections with emergency managers.
2022 Update:
The 2022 #PhotoMappers Admin team included Kelli Brock, Jonathan Clementi, Brad Fisher, Mackenzie Fox, Hannah Gonzales, John Haddad, Kenny Hornfeldt, Hannah Larsen, Keith Johnson, Emilie Pratt, Jason San Souchi, and Dacey Zelman-Fahm. Over the last two years, the GISCorps Disaster Response Subcommittee, which manages the project, has grown to include Erin Arkison, Holly Torpey, and Katie Picchione. Rob Neppell and Melissa Swenson of CEDR Digital Corps also support the project. On the NAPSG team, Adam Fackler keeps the PhotoMappers apps up to date, and Jared Doke and Tari Martin keep the team connected with emergency managers.
2021 Update:
GISCorps is entering its fifth year providing volunteer support for NAPSG Foundation’s Crowdsourced Disaster Photo mapping program. Also known as #PhotoMappers, this team of volunteers finds and maps crowdsourced photos of on-the-ground conditions during natural disasters in the United States and its territories. To date, hundreds of GISCorps volunteers have geolocated thousands of photos, providing a valuable source of situational awareness that federal, state, and local emergency managers have come to rely on as they assess initial impacts and allocate resources. Each of those photos is validated by the small but mighty PhotoMappers Admin Team. The Admin team not only reviews each upload for relevance and accuracy, but they also assign a primary FEMA Community Lifeline and an initial damage assessment score to each photo. They also provide support to the rest of the PhotoMappers volunteers. In 2021, the Admin Team vetted over 1,000 photos and volunteered over 190 hours!
Led by Erin Arkison, the 2021 PhotoMappers Admin Team includes Kelli Brock, Christina Brunsvold, Johnathan Clementi, Tiffany Drummond, Brad Fisher, John Haddad, Kenny Hornfeldt, Keith Johnson, Hannah Larsen, Katie Picchione, Jason San Souci, Alicia Tyson, and Dacey Zelman-Fahm.
Mid-2020 Update:
To keep up with this busy season, three additional volunteers have joined the NAPSG Crowdsourcing Admin Team. Welcome, Johnathan Clementi, Kenny Hornfeldt, and Sean Lim!
2020 Update:
With the NAPSG Crowdsourcing application expanding to earthquakes and tornado events, as well as being on standby for the 2020 hurricane season, GISCorps polled the 2019 admin volunteers for their availability in 2020. Christina Brunsvold, John Haddad, and Dacey Zelman-Fahm are continuing with the team, along with new member, Alicia Tyson from Alabama. Two members, Eadie Kaltenbacher and Melvin Nforba are on to new endeavors. We wish them well and thank them for their services in 2019. Erin Arkison has joined the GISCorps Core Committee and will be working with German Whitley leading the Disaster Response Subcommittee.
The team continues to evolve the apps and dashboards as well as improving and refining workflows for different types of disaster events.
2019 Team:
Building on a series of successful collaborations in the last year following Hurricanes Florence, Michael, and Barry, NAPSG Foundation, CEDR Digital Corps, and GISCorps have been hard at work preparing for the remainder of the 2019 hurricane season. Together, we’re ready to continue providing on-the-ground situational awareness to emergency managers and first responders with the 2019 Hurricanes Crowdsourced Photos Story Map.
In addition to updating applications and reworking workflow documentation, GISCorps project manager German Whitley has assembled a team of seasoned hurricane project contributors to serve as the Admin Team for future projects. The GISCorps 2019 Hurricane Season Admin Team includes Erin Arkison from Texas, Christina Brunsvold from California, John Haddad from Colorado, Eadie Kaltenbacher from Oregon, Melvin Nforba from Maryland, Holly Torpey from California, and Dacey Zelman-Fahm from New Zealand.
Working alongside Paul Doherty of NAPSG and Rob Neppell of CEDR Digital Corps, these experienced and dedicated volunteers will validate photo submissions for accuracy and formatting and assign FEMA Community Lifeline categories. They’ll mine social media for imagery that can be geolocated, and they’ll help keep our applications up and running and our documentation current. Perhaps most importantly, they’ll be on hand in our shared Slack channels to support other GISCorps volunteers as they geolocate photos and video and add them to the map.
Recruitment complete, mission in progress.