University of Notre Dame
Hesburgh Libraries

JOIN US FOR GIS DAY AT NOTRE DAME

Learn to harness the power of geospatial data

Join us for our annual salute to geospatial technology and its power to transform and better our lives and the lives of those around us on Wednesday, November 15, 2023.

Learn more about GIS resources at Notre Dame.



2023 Organizing Committee

Matthew Sisk

Matthew Sisk is an Associate Professor of the Practice at the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society where he focuses on the use of GIS and spatial tools in Data Science. He received his Ph.D. in Paleolithic Archaeology from Stony Brook University in 2011 and has worked extensively in GIS-based archaeology and ecological modeling. Much of Matthew’s current research is focused on assessing the spatial scale of urban lead exposure.

Tricia Bulson

Tricia Bulson is the GIS Specialist for University Facilities Information (UFI). UFI maintains the University master records of maps and building floor plans as well as baseline space data such as room number, room use, and office occupancy. The department processes over 200 floor plan updates a year from renovations, construction projects, and space verifications across more than 11 million gross square feet of campus interior space. A suite of GIS technologies is available to campus partners that leverage space and asset management data both indoors and outdoors to meet unique departmental needs.

Tricia received her Bachelor's degree in Geography from Western Michigan University and has worked in GIS for 16 years. Prior to joining the University, she worked with communities in Southwest Michigan as a consultant specializing in asset management and as a GIS analyst at S&P Global Platts.

Meghan Forstchen

Meghan is a PhD student in the Department of Biological Sciences. She received her B.S. in Biology and Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2016. She is using geospatial analyses and remote sensing to explore her research interests which lie at the intersection of ecology and public health.

Jacob Swisher

Jacob Swisher is a doctoral candidate in the Department of History with research interests in borderlands, environmental history, and the history of the North American West. His dissertation research follows circulating people, species, and objects into New Mexico’s Upper Rio Grande Basin to better understand how local entanglements between people and things shaped the historical development of the Anthropocene, a proposed geological epoch that accounts for how human activities have significantly affected elements of the Earth System since the Industrial Revolution. Jacob’s work draws on digital humanities tools, including geospatial analysis to examine relationships between people, places, and environments in the American West.