Tennessee 4-H GPS and GIS Program

07/17/2020

Here is a neat article a former 4-H'er from Tennessee who is still involved in GIS mapping projects.

Hello, YouthMappers! Due to the pandemic, I imagine summer plans for you and many other students didn't turn out how they were planned. I wrote this blog

10/22/2018

Tennessee 4-H GIS Contest rules and forms for 2019 are available at https://tiny.utk.edu/GIScontest.
Remember that this contest is the method used to select Tennessee 4-H representatives for the National 4-H GIS/GPS Leadership Team meeting in San Diego, CA. The deadline to enter the contest is a little earlier this year - Feb 1, 2019 - in order to meet deadlines for the national team.
This is a virtual contest with all materials submitted electronically, so please follow instructions carefully and contact us if you have questions or need assistance.

08/21/2018

Three 4-H members from northeast Tennessee were featured in the 2017 National Institute of Food And Agriculture Annual Report for their achievements with GIS. NIFA is the branch of USDA that is responsible for the Cooperative Extension System in all 50 states. You can view the entire report at https://nifa.usda.gov/resource/national-institute-food-and-agriculture-2017-annual-report

02/09/2018

Another youth GIS contest with opportunity for winners to attend Esri Users Conference in San Diego: https://sites.google.com/utk.edu/tn-ago-contest
Deadline to register is March 30. Note that this is an ArcGIS Online contest. Please follow the links follow the rules carefully!

Who is eligible: All Tennessee public, private, or homeschooled students are eligible to enter the contest. Maps can be submitted individually or as a team of two students. Limit of one entry per student or team.

01/31/2018

Hurry! The 2018 Tennessee 4-H GIS Contest entries must be received by February 4, 2018. Also, remember to complete the National 4-H GIS/GPS Leadership Team (GGLead) application form in the packet if you are interested in earning the trip to San Diego.
Click the File Sharing link of this site to download the forms or download from https://tiny.utk.edu/GIScontest.

01/31/2018

TNGIC Annual Conference is April 24-26, 2018 at Montgomery Bell State Park. This is an affordable GIS conference and a great opportunity to showcase your work as a presenter or sharing your work in the Map Gallery.
A limited number of student scholarships are available for students willing to attend and assist with conference activities.
Click this link for full details and instructions for submitting your work:

Tennessee Geographic Information Council

11/09/2017

The 2018 Tennessee 4-H GIS Contest rules and entry forms are now available for download. Tennessee youth on the National 4-H GIS/GPS Leadership Team (GGLead) are selected from winners of this contest, so be sure to enter and include your GGLead application forms.
Entries must be received by February 4, 2018.
Click the File Sharing link of this site to download the forms or download from https://tiny.utk.edu/GIScontest.

11/09/2017

The National 4-H GIS/GPS Leadership Team (GGLead) is accepting applications for 2018-2019. Applications are available for download at https://sites.google.com/site/nat4hgis. Please work with your local county 4-H Extension Agent and State 4-H Office to complete and digitally sign the forms for submission by the February 16, 2018 deadline.
(Tennessee 4-H members: You must submit your GGLead application as part of your Tennessee 4-H GIS Contest entry packet.)

08/24/2017

2018 Tennessee 4-H GIS Contest entries will be due midnight on Sunday, Feb 4 in order to get select winners and submit applications to the National 4-H GIS Leadership Team. Check here for the updated rules in a couple of weeks, but you can use the 2017 rules in the File Sharing section as a guide because changes will be minor, most being updates to the National forms. Dates for the 2018 National 4-H GIS Leadership Team Workshop in San Diego will be July 5-11.

08/02/2017

Anderson County 4-H Members Win Map Award - 4-H members Ian Bailey and Beatrice Shea were awarded 2nd Place in the Student Map - up to age 12 category at the Esri 2017 Users Conference Map Gallery. The 7th grade students at Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge, Tennessee selected their mapping project because their school is unique by having wooded and protected areas near it. They learned that these areas provide a habitat that is important to the local ecosystem. Jefferson Middle School has taken a strong interest in protecting these resources and has taken steps to add more habitats; for example, creating a wetland, maintaining trails, eradicating invasive species, and providing bird boxes in the Cedar Barrens.
Their map, Cedar Barrens, is an online Story Map created using ArcGIS Online to display efforts to engage Jefferson Middle School students in their surroundings in a meaningful way. Students collected the locations shown on the map using GPS, add-ed photos and text to explain each location. You can view their map at http://arcg.is/2g66cm1.
Teacher Brian Smith provided GIS training and guidance, and the map was produced using a free ArcGIS Online Organizational Account that is available to any K-12 school globally, courtesy of Esri. A poster of their map was one of six maps from the 2017 Tennessee 4-H GIS Contest displayed during the Esri Users Conference in San Diego. Other maps displayed were from Fayette, Shelby, Sullivan and Unicoi Counties, plus maps by 4-H members from Louisiana, New York and North Carolina. There was also a map by the 2016-2017 National 4-H GIS/GPS Leadership Team produced for the health study that was presented during the conference plenary session.
Youth interested in learning to use geographic information systems (GIS) and the many career opportunities it enables, and GIS users willing to serve as mentors to teach GIS skills, should contact their county Extension office or send a message to [email protected]. Tennessee 4-H youth can also enter the 2018 Tennessee 4-H GIS Contest and apply to become a member of the National 4-H GIS/GPS Leadership Team, which meets in San Diego each July and conducts GIS projects during the following year.

This map shows the locations of bird boxes, a wetland, and the Oak Ridge Cedar Barrens (a registered state natural area).