This is the final call for GIS In Ecology’s upcoming introductory courses for marine biologists on the use of GIS and Species Distribution Modelling in January 2017.

These courses will be of paricular use to marine mammal biologists as they will specifically cover the typical GIS-based tasks, such as creating maps, processing survey data and creating species distribution models, that MMOs, environmental consultants, NGOs, and students are likely to need to be able to do on a regular basis. These courses are:

1. An Introduction To Using GIS In Marine Biology, 16th – 18th January 2017, Glasgow, Scotland: This three day course covers the basics of how to use GIS in marine biological research and is aimed at those who have little or no experience in using GIS, but who wish to learn. The course is taught by Dr Colin D. MacLeod, author of the ‘An Introduction To Using GIS In Marine Biology’ series of books, and is taught in the type of language marine biologists will be familiar with. It consists of a series of background and practical sessions which will provide all the information needed to start successfully using GIS in marine biology. This course can be done with either ArcGIS or the freely available open source GIS software package QGIS. Cost: £395 (£300 for students, unwaged and those working for NGOs). More information on this course, including an online booking form, can be found at: http://www.gisinecology.com/Training_Course_Glasgow_January_2017.htm. If you have any questions, or wish to book a place by email, email: cdmacleod@GISinEcology.com

2. An Introduction To Species Distribution Modelling In The Marine Environment, 19th – 20th January 2017, Glasgow, Scotland: This two day course follows on from the introductory GIS course and provides all the information required to start using Species Distribution Modelling (SDM) in the marine environment in a practical and biologically meaningful way. In a series of background sessions, case studies and practical exercises, it covers how to create data layers of species distribution, how to select and create raster data layers of environmental variables, such as water depth, how to join information on species distribution to environmental information, how to export data from a GIS project for analysis in a statistical package, such as R, how to create spatial visualisations based on a statistical model and how to validate the spatial predictions of a model. The practical sessions work through a species distribution modelling project based on real marine survey data from start to finish. Cost: £295 (£200 for students, unwaged and those working for NGOs). This course can be done with either ArcGIS or the freely available open source GIS software package QGIS. More information on this course, including an online booking form, can be found at: http://www.gisinecology.com/Training_Course_SDM_January_2017.htm. If you have any questions, or wish to book a place by email, email: cdmacleod@GISinEcology.com. Note: This course requires a basic knowledge of GIS (as covered in the above introductory GIS course) and how to use ArcGIS or QGIS GIS software.

For more information on other upcoming courses from GIS In Ecology, visit: http://www.GISinEcology.com/training_courses.htm.