Gis?

[CamDiver]

A lot of things sound daunting when we know nothing about them. If anyone applies themself they can learn. The human brain is an amazing thing. We are so able to do so much more than we think. It just takes drive, determination and willpower.

Best of luck with that career change,
Mark.

[namisan]

Hello

for a starter guide try this link http://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/its/i...ides/61GIS.pdf it gives you a basic guide on how to make a simple map.

[ChrisJB]

Thanks everyone. I also found a kind of numpties tutorial thing on the O.S site as well. Unfortunately it went to 1+1 kind of stuff into differential calculus mode in the blink of an eye!

Regards, Chris

[Chiltern Chris]

Hi Chris,

It really depends what you want to do in Conservation. If you want to be a Countryside Ranger or field ecologist then GIS may not be too important but if you want to join an ecological consultancy, an ecological records centre or a government agency like Defra, Regional Assemblies, Natural England or the Environment Agency then it’s far more important. GIS systems are now obsessively used by these organisations for report writing and strategies, which although boring to many, are the only way to justify public expenditure or to influence important plans like the Regional Development Strategies or Local Development Documents e.g. I’m presently writing a BAP habitat creation strategy to ensure that the Agency I work for can secure funds over the next 10 years for major conservation projects and the strategy is very GIS dependant.

So if you want to get into Conservation planning GIS is an important skill but just as important the data for GIS will always rely on good field ecologists who may have no GIS skills at all. This isn’t an either or situation anyway, I’m only a half decent (my opinion) conservation bureaucrat because I spent my first 15 years after graduating in the field everyday, so I thought I understood what I was talking about. I’d always employ a good ecologist and send them on a GIS training course rather than someone with lots of training with little experience in the field.

Cheers, Chris

[ChrisJB]

To be honest Chris, I'm not entirely sure which direction I want to take as yet. I just seemed to see G.I.S mentioned a fair bit when browsing through jobs. When I worked as a ranger previously, I was mainly in the field and enjoyed that aspect of the job, so perhaps if I aim to spend more time in the field, like you say, G.I.S might not be of the greatest importance to me.

My current career change investigations are focussing on Public Rights of Way and access. Before (and if) I take the plunge and leave teaching, I want to be as informed as possible on which direction to take and whether or not I need to undertake a postgraduate distance learning course. And, as a teacher, I need to explore the sphere of Environmental Education as well.

Anyway, thanks for your input, it's been really helpful.

Regards, Chris

[JonSadler]

A GIS is a spatially referenced database. It is really just a computer programme and if you are happy with computers and like playing around you'll be able to sort out the basics pretty easily. For more training you'll need a course. Try the OU or even log into the ESRI website - they run on-line tutorials for a fee. Also the OS website is worth a look. Or as suggested by others do some voluntary work at a wildlife trust or something similar. If you go it alone you'll need the software and access to digital data (not cheap). The software is very cheap for education users but I don't know about individual licenses.
Good luck
Jon

[Michael240]

I read earlier that there are companies looking for GIS Volunteers, if you know of any looking please let me know. Thanks

[Johnny81]

I am in a fortunate position of learning GIS through college, we have a whole module dedicated to it. Personally once you get the hang of it, it isn't too difficult (on the particular software I use) but I think I am barley scratching the surface of what I can do with it. IMO you do need a reasonable amount of training on it, of course anyone can teach themselves but I think people always run into trouble with it at some point or another.

I hear it is becoming more and more of a must for employment in the ecological sector, but I guess it depends on what you want to do...

[Meta menardi]

I have done quite a bit of work with Mapinfo and a great deal with Arcmap, doing a diversity of tasks with these two packages. I don't think you can be fully trained on this kind of software, there is always a scenario you may not have come across before and the skill is to decide if the program can do it and then find out how you solve the problem. It is extraordinarily powerful, and that carries with it the ability to give you a very sound drubbing if you don't work with care.

It is quite valid, indeed neccessary, to just sit there sometimes and think about your data and how it is structured. I inherited quite a bit of data, about 90% of it was worthless, not coded consistently, digitised to the incorrect boundaries, duplicate data and other problems.

Back up your data every day (I blew a CD at the end of work every day, despite being told the main server was backed each day) and I was glad to have done so. I had a program crash, well it just disappeared and took the databse with it, I was only 2 hours from my back up, the main server did not have recoverable data.

Don't expect much help from IT support, it is outside the way of working for normal printer fixers, be prepared to fight them off your machine, never copy from one machine to another without considering the directory structure, spend hours setting up directory structures, it will save time later.

I love it, it can reduce some tasks from weeks of work to an hours printing and querying.

Map Maker is a way to dip the toe, but once you go for the Pro software you need deep pockets, and if you want ordnance survey vector data you need to part of a corporate structure, it really does cost.

If you love maps, quite a bit can come from Google map, trace it and then export it. A lonely wilderness if you are totally on your own, but there must be a secret sign for those who are In The Know.

[Johnny Redgate]

Originally Posted by Meta menardi

but there must be a secret sign for those who are In The Know.

Maybe some sort of twitching index finger and squint from too much digitising?

Some good advice from MM especially regarding directory structure in Mapinfo. It's very annoying to not be able to open your maps because the programme can't find the files anymore just because you've moved a folder. You can edit the instructions but it's a pain.

I learnt Mapinfo by using it and getting occasional phone advice from my ex employer. I do have Arcmap/info somewhere but have yet to start using it. Maybe that should be a winter project but I no longer have anyone to advise me so it could be tough going. By the looks of it Mapinfo is more user friendly but less all singing all dancing, at least the versions I have.