Yale GIS Accelerator

The Yale GIS Accelerator (YGA) is an intensive five-day program designed for Yale affiliates (* Open to Yale members only) who need to incorporate GIS into their research or projects but may find it difficult to commit to a full semester-long course. Co-hosted by the Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions and the Yale Library, the program is offered each January and May.

It is tailored for participants who already have a project and dataset and are seeking guidance on GIS principles and spatial data management. Registration is prioritized for individuals whose current or proposed projects demonstrate a clear need for geospatial analysis.

Using a Guided Practice pedagogical strategy, participants will be given an introduction to tools for analyzing, manipulating, and visualizing spatial data. The focus will be on a fundamental understanding of data structures for representing spatial information and different methods to generate insights from them. At the end of the Accelerator, participants will have a solid foundation in the use of GIS and will be able to:

• identify and use spatial data types and formats
• process non-spatial data for mapping (display XY, geocode, join, georeference, digitize new features)
• produce maps of layered spatial data with appropriate symbology, coordinate systems, legends, etc.
• understand basic principles of cartography and the uses of 3D visualization
• perform basic spatial analytic techniques to enhance understanding of spatial data (spatial join, buffer, intersect, union, compute distances, topographic analysis, map algebra, etc.)
• understand the basics of spatial statistics (specifically spatial autocorrelation and its effects in OLS regression)
• use an online sharing system for broad distribution of mapped results
• identify ethical considerations in GIS analysis, geospatial research, and cartographic visualization and protect the locational data privacy of research subjects and communities

No prior experience with GIS is expected from Accelerator participants. However, working knowledge of Windows is assumed. Mac and Linux users can prepare by learning how to use File Explorer to find and manage files in Windows, how to launch programs from the Start Menu, how to unzip downloads, and how to copy/paste text.

Jill Kelly is the GIS instructor at the Yale School of the Environment. She has also taught GIS at the Yale School of Public Health, the Yale School of Architecture, the Government Department of Harvard University, Harvard’s Center for Geographic Analysis, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Environmental Studies Program. Her research focuses on the development and application of GIS and other spatial methods in a broad diversity of applications. Jill is a geospatial generalist with interests in areal aggregation, raster analysis and the GIS ethics. Her dissertation research explored the spatial aggregation of lidar measurements in predicting spatially explicit estimates of forest biomass. Recent collaborations explore rainfall patterns in Syria, access to emergency care in Kenya, hurricane impact on US nursing homes, tick-borne illness in New England, climate risks of prisons, and socio-spatial health disparities. 

The Geospatial Consultants from the Yale Library and the Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions are available to assist in identifying relevant data in appropriate format. If you need support, please schedule a geospatial consultation.

For inquiries, contact: geospatialhelp@yale.edu 

Sign up for our interest list to be notified about the future Yale GIS Accelerator. 

For additional geospatial resources and support, visit Support page.