Adaptation science serves a strong practical need – the people who manage our lands and waters need information to support ecological resilience in the face of climate change. Maps and mapping tools are intuitive ways of conveying information – particularly for understanding risk from introduced, invasive species. However, getting needed science into the hands of managers remains a challenge in fields like ecology that suffer from a prominent gap between research and practice (the ‘knowing-doing’ gap). In this presentation, I’ll tell the story of the creation of the Northeast Regional Invasive Species & Climate Change (NE RISCC) Management Network, which aims to narrow the knowing-doing gap for invasion science and practice. Many NE RISCC products have focused on spatial analyses to understand risk and convey recommendations and I hope to convince you that your skills in spatial analysis are critical and needed to bridge the knowing-doing gap!
Bethany Bradley is a Professor in the Department of Environmental Conservation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research focuses on the biogeography of terrestrial plant invasions, including how invasive plant distributions, abundance, and impact are affected by climate... Read More →
Tuesday May 26, 2026 8:30am - 9:45am EDT Auditorium
Parcel data supports planning, assessment, environmental management, and emergency response, among others. Differences in how this information is created and maintained, and the lack of shared guidelines, limit its usability statewide. Municipalities are required by law to submit GIS parcel and assessor data to their Councils of Governments, who voluntarily share it with the CT GIS Office for statewide aggregation. While compiling data from 169 municipalities, significant variations in quality and consistency have been identified. In response, the GIS Advisory Council’s Parcel Data Creation Working Group and the GIS Office developed the Connecticut GIS Parcel Data Creation Guidance and Specifications. Drawing on expert knowledge, this guidance offers a practical framework and best practices to improve consistency, accuracy, and interoperability. This presentation reviews the statewide needs that led to its development, the recommendations, and their value for better decision making.
With the passage of Connecticut Public Act 25-1, An Act Concerning Housing Growth, the CT GIS Office has been tasked with developing tools and guidance to support municipalities in preparing local Housing Growth Plans and determining developable land inventories, as required by statute.
This presentation focuses on how statutory requirements are translated into spatial workflows. We will highlight mapping guidance, analysis scenarios, a statewide data library, and targeted map viewers that support transparent and consistent approaches to identifying developable land. These resources are designed to align with statutory requirements while promoting comparability and accountability across municipalities.
Local government teams face growing pressure to speed up permit approvals despite limited staff and increasing development complexity. A key challenge is the disconnect between electronic plan review and GIS, forcing staff to switch between systems and lose up to 40 minutes per permit.
This session explores how integrating GIS into plan review improves efficiency by providing instant access to utility maps, right-of-way data, and infrastructure assets. It highlights real-world challenges, shows community benefits, and demonstrates how integration accelerates decision-making and reduces review cycles.
Attendees will learn to identify workflow inefficiencies, eliminate data silos, and streamline processes across planning, public works, and development services. The session also covers evaluating integration opportunities, maximizing technology ROI, and building strong business cases focused on faster permits and improved service delivery.
Take some time to visit with sponsors and peruse the posters! Learn more about our generous sponsors via the sponsor section of the app, and see more detail about the posters here. Don't miss the Lightning Talks at 1:15 (bolded posters below)!
From T to Trees: Examining Park Access via the MBTA - Yves De Jesus, Transitivo
Comparative Analysis of Above-Ground Biomass Estimation in Branford Salt Marshes: Evaluating Traditional Field Methods and UAS for Precision Assessment - Sonam Sah, University of New Haven
Conflict and Forced Displacement in Colombia: A Municipal-Level Econometric Analysis - Kaori Kimitsuka, Tufts University
Enabling Connections between Communities, Campus, and the Commonwealth: The UMass GIS Hub - Forrest Bowlick, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Mapping Rural Healthcare Accessibility in Syunik Province, Armenia - Arev Kaligian, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Beyond the Storm: The lasting impact of Hurricane Katrina on Housing Equity in New Orleans - Dankweli Mwaka, Dartmouth College
From Endangered to Vulnerable - Steavi Swinson, Beta Group, Inc.
Lidar and Geomorphological Evidence of Pre-Colonial Mariculture in the Westbrook Marsh, CT. - Alexander Angulo, Salem State University
Mapping the Post-Pandemic Housing Affordability Crisis in the Adirondack Park: A GIS Analysis - Arianna Roeder-Fabos, St. Lawrence University
Patterns in emergent and epifauna distributions in the Central Basin. - Faith Chepchirchir, University of New Haven
Predictive habitat suitability modelling for beavers using remote sensing and machine learning - Caitlin Rogers, University of Connecticut
Spatial Analysis of Elderly Populations, Nursing Homes, and Hospitals in New Hampshire - Hyun Joong Kim, Plymouth State University
Using Earth Observations to Quantify Methane Concentrations Produced by Landfills in New Hampshire - Sadie Lockwood, Oregon State University
Optimizing the Digital Interface of Connecticut’s Coastal Access Guide {Digital Visualization} - Adelaine McCloe, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Spatial Analysis of Methane in Henan, China: The Silent Accomplice - Jorge Santiago Rodriguez , Salem State University
A 20 year NDVI time series analysis using BFAST to identify logging in the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, Maine - Jacqui Parker, Salem State University
Tuesday May 26, 2026 12:00pm - 1:15pm EDT Auditorium
From T to Trees: Examining Park Access via the MBTA - Yves De Jesus, Transitivo
Comparative Analysis of Above-Ground Biomass Estimation in Branford Salt Marshes: Evaluating Traditional Field Methods and UAS for Precision Assessment - Sonam Sah, University of New Haven
Enabling Connections between Communities, Campus, and the Commonwealth: The UMass GIS Hub - Forrest Bowlick, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Mapping Rural Healthcare Accessibility in Syunik Province, Armenia - Arev Kaligian, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Spatial Analysis of Elderly Populations, Nursing Homes, and Hospitals in New Hampshire - Hyun Joong Kim, Plymouth State University
Graduate Research Assisstant, University of New Haven
I am a student at the University of New Haven interested in GIS, spatial analysis, and real-world applications of geospatial data. I enjoy working on projects that connect data with community and environmental impact.
Since the release of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title II federal mandate, the GIS community has been working on making their apps and maps accessible. As part of our work the last two years, we’ve held accessibility office hours each week to help our fellow Creators within the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. During this presentation, we’ll cover some tips on how to host effective office hours, and we’ll go over some of the most-asked questions we’ve received.
Digital Experience Coordinator, Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game
Hi! I'm a Digital Experiences Coordinator at the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game. What does that mean, you ask? I take GIS, social media, and our Commonwealth website, mix them together, and create meaningful stories for our audiences. I also work with our small team to... Read More →
Watershed GIS Coordinator, MA Dept. of Conservation & Recreation
I am the GIS Director for Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation, Division of Water Supply Protection. I’ve been with DCR since 2017, and have helped push the agency into being one of the leaders in GIS use within the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs... Read More →
Tuesday May 26, 2026 1:45pm - 2:15pm EDT Auditorium
Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. (GPI) supported the City of Rochester, NH with their ADA Transition Plan by using GIS to coordinate desk review, field data collection, and deficiency analysis. This session walks through the GIS-led workflow that supported the Project Manager and engineers from kickoff to final report and data delivery. Early communication aligned office and field staff on ADA review criteria and how data would be collected, accessed, and evaluated. Using municipal datasets as a foundation, GPI implemented a standardized schema with ADA-specific attributes for sidewalks, crosswalks, curb ramps, pedestrian access buttons, and traffic signals. A combination of ESRI-based desktop and web GIS supported all aspects of the project, allowing deficiencies to be identified, symbolized, and filtered without duplicative workflows while producing the final report and a comprehensive database deliverable to the City.
This presentation outlines the evolution and operational framework of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Drone Program, established in 2017. The program strategically integrates Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to enhance transportation infrastructure management across multiple domains, including emergency response, aeronautics, highways, and rail and transit systems. Central to this effort is the development of a scalable and secure approach for capturing, processing, managing, and delivering aerial data as actionable intelligence to support decision-making. The presentation will highlight the end-to-end MassDOT UAS workflow, including mission planning, data acquisition, processing pipelines, quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC), and enterprise data dissemination. A key focus will be the implementation of the Aeronautics Data Hub—an enterprise UAS data management solution.
Dr. Sinan Abood is a GIS Scientist and Environmental Engineer with over 15 years of experience in geospatial modeling, remote sensing, and natural resource management. He serves as Aeronautics Data & Analytics Chief at MassDOT Aeronautics, leading UAS data processing, LiDAR analytics... Read More →
Tuesday May 26, 2026 3:15pm - 3:45pm EDT Auditorium
Many organizations have infrastructure information in drawings, PDFs, spreadsheets, and older records, but still struggle to turn that material into GIS people can actually use. This presentation will look at the space between data conversion and day-to-day use, and why converted infrastructure data is often difficult to work with in practice. It will also consider how the pressure to make messy records look complete can undermine long-term editing, maintenance, and decision-making. The session will center on the kinds of decisions that affect whether the final GIS is something people can trust and maintain. It is intended for anyone working with infrastructure data that needs to become more usable over time, not just more digital.
Local governments maintain thousands of infrastructure assets across the right of way, but the data behind those assets is often incomplete, inconsistent, or years out of date. Updating it typically means manual field surveys, disconnected spreadsheets, and time that GIS teams do not have. This session looks at how computer vision and machine learning models trained on street-level imagery and LiDAR point clouds can automate the production of structured, geospatially referenced infrastructure data: pavement condition scores and distress classifications, sign inventories coded to MUTCD standards, pavement markings, and right of way assets like hydrants, poles, and curbing. The session walks through the full data pipeline from sensor to GIS-ready outputs, including how imagery is collected, how models detect and classify assets with spatial precision, and how the resulting datasets integrate with existing tools through standard export formats. For GIS professionals supporting public works teams, the practical question is whether this approach fits into current workflows and what it changes about the quality, coverage, and frequency of the data they manage. This session addresses that directly.
