CITT Advances High School GIS Education at National Center for Sustainable Transportation Summit

Amid the surging demand for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) skills in various industries, the Center for International Trade and Transportation (CITT) took an active role in shaping the future careers of high school students by participating in the National Center for Sustainable Transportation’s (NCST) April 2024 GIS Summit at Cabrillo High School. Led by Ben Olson, CITT Center Operations Manager, and Rhithu Mandiram, CITT Research Assistant, the summit aimed to familiarize students with GIS technology and its many applications across industries and government.

During the high school workshops, the team commenced each session with a concise presentation aimed at introducing students to the fundamentals of GIS. Olson and Mandiram covered its diverse applications across various industries, the range of GIS data available, different file formats, and examples of GIS in practical use. Following that presentation, students were organized into groups and tasked with selecting a research topic from a selection of three StoryMap activities centered on sustainable transportation themes. 

Workshop themes included investigating the availability of Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations, assessing the accessibility of bike routes within their respective communities, and examining the impact of local Superfund sites. Utilizing StoryMaps—a visual and multimedia presentation tool enabling the integration of maps with videos, images, and textual content to convey a cohesive narrative—each group developed their presentation. Subsequently, they had the opportunity to present their StoryMaps to peers and instructors, receiving constructive feedback from both parties.

For the past five years, Ben Olson has been engaged in the piloting of GIS workshop materials and developing curricula. “CITT is proud to culminate the NCST program with the summit at Cabrillo and we're very grateful to the many high school partners that hosted prior pilots. Refining our approach by piloting GIS introduction in different high school classes and with different grade levels allows us to refine our approach and come away from the project with best practices tested by experience.” Olson has contributed to a variety of GIS projects and initiatives during his tenure at CITT and coauthored the 2021 NCST white paper, “Building A GIS Workshop for High School Students." 

This article was originally featured in the California State University, Long Beach's Center for International Trade & Transportation news.