Dr Robin Zhang Keeps Up with Geoscience Graduates

In the 2013-2014 academic year Murray State University charged individual departments with keeping track of graduates. Figuring out geographic distributions, mapping geography, is something geographers tend to be pretty good at. In the Department of Geosciences, Dr. Robin Zhang took on the task of mapping where Geosciences graduates end up soon after graduation.

Using ArcGIS Online, a free mapping application provided by ESRI courtesy of MSU/MARC, Dr. Zhang decided to give the mapping application a shot. Below, is the GIS-based mapping application created by Dr. Zhang illustrating the distribution of Geosciences graduates.


Interactive maps like the one above are pretty easy to create. To create one of these interactive maps, an ESRI Global Account is required. These accounts are free, created simply by visiting ESRI.com and filling out a short form. An account can also be created by the local ESRI Site License Administrator, Michael Busby. An invitation to join the Murray State University ArcGIS Online community is also necessary. Again, this request goes to the local ESRI Site License Administrator, or can be handled during the ESRI account request.

The account provides access to ESRI's ArcGIS Online for Education. The next bit of the puzzle is managing the data. In Dr. Zhang's map app, her data were the locations of Geosciences alumni - people. People will gainful employment are typically tied to an employer's address, a building. The building can be located in a number of ways, but most commonly with an address or a set of coordinates. By clicking on one of the colored dots, information on a person is revealed, including the longitude and latitude (x and y) of the employer's location. To put a point on a globe one needs a coordinate, a longitude and latitude. With that important element in a spreadsheet, each row in a spreadsheet then becomes a mappable record.

In essence, one really only needs a spreadsheet replete with information, tied in some way to a place on the Earth. Then, an interactive map is born. In my next post, I will demonstrate my interactive map and provide an example of my spreadsheet.

Murray State to Host Local "SharkTank"

Murray State University is hosting a SharkTank-type entrepreneurial pitch contest this month. The event is scheduled for Tuesday, June 17, 11:00 a.m., inside Heritage Hall. The competition is sponsored by the Office of Entrepreneurship within the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, along with the Kentucky Angels Network and the Kentucky Innovation Network.

Loretta Daniel, Director of the Innovation and Commercialization Center (ICC) at Heritage Hall, said the competition is open to teams of three-to-four people with the winner in Murray taking home $1,000. The winning team will also advance to a competition this fall in Frankfort, where team members will pitch their idea directly to the entire Kentucky Angel Investors Network (Kentucky Angels).

The competition is open to the public, and will be a good way for local inventors to mingled, meet, and network.

Anyone wishing to enter the pitch competition should visit www.kyinnovation.com or contact Daniel at 270-809-6071.