The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Services Center offers training for state and local coastal programs. Students include professionals from research reserves, regulatory programs, emergency preparedness offices, Sea Grant programs, and other agencies.
For these courses, trainers from the Center can come to your site, or your group can travel to the Center’s Charleston, South Carolina, facility. The cost is minimal for participants and host organizations, and courses generally have to be booked six or more months in advance. To learn more, visit the Center’s Web site. The following is a sample of the organization’s technology curriculum.
Assessing GIS for
Your Organization
This workshop is not for the technologist—it is for people curious about what a geographic information system (GIS) is and how this technology can be useful to their organizations. Participants will learn about software, hardware, data, and applied uses. Small group discussions and hands-on learning are part of this course. There is a 90-minute version and a four-hour version.
GIS for Managers
This four-hour course provides coastal resource managers with an opportunity to understand GIS basics through hands-on computer training. Participants will understand key capabilities and limitations and will be exposed to the use of GIS in familiar coastal scenarios.
Coastal Inundation Mapping
A course currently being developed will help participants learn about coastal inundation issues and gain an overall knowledge of spatial techniques for mapping inundation. The intended audience for this course is certified floodplain managers; county, state, and municipal officials; and National Weather Service personnel. Class participants should have basic GIS skills (six months to one year).
Introduction to ArcGIS I
This two-day Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI)-certified training course covers the basics of ArcGIS software. A more advanced course, Coastal Applications Using ArcGIS, is often offered directly following this course so that students can take both during the same week.
Coastal Applications
Using ArcGIS
This two- to three-day course provides students with opportunities to address a variety of coastal issues using ArcView 9.1 technology. The course format includes lectures, demonstrations, small group discussions, and hands-on problem-solving exercises. For classes held at the Center, an additional day of training will be devoted to learning the basics of planning, collecting, and integrating Global Positioning System (GPS) data into ArcView 9.1 and will include a field component.
For additional information about these courses, contact Steve.Walker@noaa.gov. For information about the NOAACoastalServicesCenter’s training curriculum, visit www.csc.noaa.gov/training/.
