This project is fully funded thanks to the Veverka Family Foundation.
The Field Ecology class at Columbia Falls High School began in the 2016-17 academic year, helped in part by a 2016 grant from the Glacier Conservancy. The model for this initial year of the class offering was to use the web-based version of ArcGIS software (ArcGIS Online, or AGOL) on Chromebooks already owned by the school. While the software has functioned well, students have already reached the limits of what can be achieved and learned with AGOL as compared with Desktop ArcGIS software.
There are 32 students enrolled in two sections of Field Ecology this school year. This project will purchase six laptop computers that can operate GIS software and will allow students to access and learn the full suite of GIS tools available, enriching the quality of projects students can pursue in their studies of Glacier National Park. Student projects will benefit from creating new data, analyzing that data, and having the flexibility for compelling cartography afforded by Desktop ArcGIS software.
