This introductory workshop will cover common data types and basic GIS (geographic information systems) concepts. We will use QGIS, open source GIS software with a graphical user interface (as opposed to a programming environment). Participants will learn to load data in raster and vector formats, work with different data visualization options, subset data, and create a basic map.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
• Differentiate between raster and vector data and identify their utility for different types of projects
• Describe different geometry types and know when to use each one
• Load data into QGIS
• Style data
• Explore attribute data
• Create a basic map

Prerequisites

No formal GIS training is required. This workshop is also appropriate for people with extensive GIS experience in other tools such as ESRI’s ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro or programming tools for geospatial data like R or Python who want hands-on experience getting started with QGIS.

Prior to the workshop:

• Install QGIS (version 3.10 or higher) – available for free from https://qgis.org/ for Mac, Linux, and Windows
• Download the workshop data from this Box drive (dismiss the message about logging in to Box and click the Download button in the upper right corner)
• A text version of the workshop is available in Michele Tobias’ GitHub repository for the workshop.
• Verify that you can access Zoom on your machine and that your audio is working. Some Zoom features you will need to use are the chat and non-verbal tools (raise hand, thumbs up/down, etc.). You may find a second monitor is necessary if you want to simultaneously watch the demo and follow along with QGIS on your own machine.