Spring Regional Spotlight: A Twist in GIS Education

As the Spring Regional Meeting approaches, we bring you highlights from the agenda.  Today, we take a closer look at Role of Partnerships in MN between GIS Professionals & Teacher Groups from Stacey Starks who is joining us on Wednesday.  If you haven't registered yet, head on over to the Spring Regional Event Page for registration and hotel information!

Stacey Stark, GISP is the associate director of U-Spatial, a center within Research Computing in the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) at the University of Minnesota in Duluth.  U-Spatial fosters and supports the fast-growing need for geospatial expertise in research and teaching across the UMN system. Stacey is co-leading a UMN "GIS in K-12" collaborative that aims to accelerate geospatial literacy and GIS use for teaching in the K-12 environment. This work builds on a partnership with the MN GIS/LIS Consortium, MAGE, and others to encourage and support educators using geospatial tools in MN K-12 education.

She will present on the role of the GIS professional in MN as it relates to younger students and professionals as we move forward in this ever-changing industry.  Some of those early teach council interests includes social studies and geography.  The next generation of geospatial professionals will have exposure to devices and skills before they dedicate to a given field of study.  Hear about the role of various partnerships with GIS/LIS, UWN, ESRI & and various Teacher Groups in the State.