This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship's celebration of GIS Day.

Geographic information systems (GIS) are technologies for creating, managing, analyzing, visualizing and sharing spatial data. In 1999, GIS Day was established on the third Wednesday in November as an initiative to promote the use of GIS technology and encourage people to take an interest in geography.

The Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship celebrated GIS Day 2025 by hosting workshops, lightning talks and a reception in the Hesburgh Library. The event was co-sponsored by the Hesburgh Libraries, the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship, the Center for Research Computing and the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society.

“Spatial thinking and tools are applicable across a wide range of disciplines,” Julie Vecchio, co-interim director of the Center, said. “Whether you're brand new to learning about what GIS is or are a seasoned practitioner, GIS Day is a welcoming and engaging way to learn about and celebrate the impact of GIS on campus, in our community, and for society.” 

During this year’s lightning talks, researchers from the University explained how they utilize GIS technology in their work. The talks not only informed listeners about GIS itself, but also served as demonstrations of how the technology can be adapted to a wide range of subject matter.

Hannah Spero, fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, presented her research, which uses GIS and virtual reality to link storm waves to boulder movements on coastlines in Western Ireland. Hannah’s work offers an innovative approach to teaching about rocky coasts without leaving the classroom, allowing for a cost-effective, safe, and accessible experience for learners that minimizes environmental impact on research sites.

Tyler Wolford, postdoctoral Byzantine fellow at the Medieval Institute, presented his work on mapping the viewshed (the total area visible from a specific location or set of locations) of three closely located towers built in the Maeander Valley, now modern-day Turkey, during the Byzantine Empire, to determine the purpose for which the towers were built.

Matthew Sisk, co-director of the Civic-Geospatial Analysis and Learning Lab and associate professor of the practice (GIS and Data Science) at the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society, showcased his work with the Built Environment Decarbonization Analysis (BEDA) Lab to use GIS and AI technologies to map housing areas at scale to assess how housing conditions influence health outcomes under climate change stress.

To learn more about GIS services and GIS Day at the University of Notre Dame, contact Matthew Sisk in the Lucy Family Institute or Julie Vecchio in the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship.