BC Libraries GIS Competition – Boston College GIS Day

BC GIS Contest 2021 Submissions are now open! To see the guidelines and submit your project, check out our GIS contest 2021 page.

Last year, the Boston College Libraries celebrated a decade of submissions for the the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Poster Contest. Over 10 years ago, the BC Libraries partnered with Research Services and ITS to promote the use of GIS at Boston College. GIS had reached a watershed moment where the confluence of the commercialization of GIS software, GPS data availability and a recognition of the value of spatial analysis for decision-making had opened up the use of GIS across disciplines. In 2002 the Boston College Libraries librarians began integrating GIS training into Social Work curriculum, eventually expanding into Nursing and other areas. Now, it is widely recognized that a basic knowledge of GIS is a valuable skill in almost every field.

Since that time, we have received more than 100 submissions from Boston College students, focusing on research subjects that span the globe from an inventory of local trees around campus to the health care systems of Syria. Here we highlight just a few; to see a larger gallery of the submitted projects, check out our e-scholarship page!

Congrats to our 2021 Competition Winners!

1st Place
Abolfazl Sotoudeh Sherbaf, Sociology, for “BLM Protests 2020: Police Brutality, Socio-Economics, & Pandemic”

2nd Place
Alexandra Baker, International Studies and French, for “Migration: A Journey Across the World”

Previous Winner Gallery

Zoe Fanning, 2019 first place winner
*The impact of armed conflict on health care provision and health systems in Syria: Visualizing the complex relationship between violent strife and poor health*

Michaela Simoneau, 2018 undergraduate first place winner
*The plight of the Rohingya refugee: Assessing current and predicted health and sanitation challenges*

Kevin Keegan, 2010 first place winner
*Boston College Tree Inventory*

Josh Coefer, 2011 first place winner
*Land use and the extent of roadsalt contamination in surface water and groundwater, Eastern, Massachusetts*

Stephen Loverde, 2015 first place winner
*Reducing food insecurity: Revitalizing farmers’ markets in the United States*

Elissa Knight, 2014 first place winner
*The effect of educational attainment on health insurance coverage*

2020 Digital Winner