We live in a world saturated by maps, from our smartphones to our cars. By combining data and geographic information systems, we can capture, manage, analyze and display all forms of information with a geographic component.

Colorado State University will be celebrating the many ways GIS has improved our lives – through increased efficiency, cost savings, better decision making and record keeping, and improved communication, just to name a few – on Nov. 19, national GIS Day.

A full day of lectures, demonstrations and breakout sessions will be held in Morgan Library, beginning at 10 a.m., with an after hours event at Avogadro’s Number, 605 S. Mason St., Fort Collins. All events are free and open to the entire CSU campus and community.

Experts from colleges across campus will be on hand to discuss what’s up with GIS at CSU, from work with NASA and exploring Google Earth to the many resources on campus to help teach spatial skills across the curriculum.

At 2 p.m. in the Morgan Computer Lab 173, there will be a participatory open street map event on Mapping Local Food Sources, followed by a presentation on Geocaching as a spatial treasure hunt.

GIS Day is presented by CSU’s Geospatial Centroid and CSU Libraries, with sponsorship support from Warner College of Natural Resources; Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML); School of Public Health; The Institute for Learning and Teaching (TILT); College of Liberal Arts, Department of History; College of Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering; and School of Global Environmental Sustainability (SoGES).

Learn more about geospatial technologies and activities at CSU.