This course is being offered in collaboration between the Odum Institute and the Center for Urban & Regional Studies.

This one-day course will be offered via Zoom only. Attendance is required as it will not be recorded.

Course Summary:
This course offers a broad introduction into the use of geospatial data in data science applications.  The course will be highly focused on what makes geospatial data different from other types of data and what these differences imply for using and applying geospatial data.  The course materials will be built for non-geospatial professionals who find themselves needing to use geospatial data effectively. 

Why Take This Course?
The availability and uses of geospatial data have been growing for decades.  Recently, with the advent of robust web-mapping and dynamic client-side web tools many data analysts, applications programmers, web developers, and data scientists of all types have been confronted with geospatial data without having a background in geography or Geographic Information Systems (GIS).  This course will ground students in fundamental concepts of geospatial data science, geospatial computing, and geospatial applications so they can be more efficient and accurate in using geospatial data in their daily jobs.

Participants will learn about:
- Basics of map projections and the use of projected and un-projected geospatial data
- How issues of scale, precision, and accuracy affect applications of geospatial data 
- Geospatial data models and the main ways geospatial data is presented in computer form 
- Key open-source and commercial off-the-shelf applications that handle geospatial data 

Prerequisites: 
Basic computer skills.  An understanding of tools such as spreadsheets, relational database management systems (RDMS), and programming will be beneficial, but not required. 

Instructor: William Wheaton
William D. Wheaton is a geographer and senior geospatial consultant with more than 30 years of experience applying geographic information systems (GIS) technology in environmental and social science research. Mr. Wheaton was a senior instructor at Environmental Systems Research Institute from 1984-1992, and from 1993 to 2018 held several geospatial positions at RTI International, including senior geospatial scientist and director of the Geospatial Science and Technology program. He currently co-leads the Geospatial Working Group and is a senior analyst and consultant for the Data Analysis Center component of NIH’s Environmental influences on Child Health outcomes (ECHO) project.

Registration Fees
- UNC-CH Students: $0, with a $35 deposit to hold your spot (deposit is refundable upon your attendance for at least 66% of the course)
- UNC-CH Faculty/Staff/Postdoc: $95

Additional Course Registration
- Registration will close at 12:01 am on 1/21/2022. No late registrations will be accepted.
- Cancellation/ Refund Policy: A full refund will be given to those who cancel their registration no later than 10 days prior to the course. If you cancel within 10 days prior to the class, no refund will be given. Please allow 30 days to receive your refund.
- Zoom link for this course will be sent prior to the course. Registration must be made at least 3 days prior to the course date to receive the Zoom link.

For questions regarding the status of this class, please contact Jill Stevens at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Register

We invite UNC faculty and staff to join us for the inaugural Carolina Data Science Now Webinar. This month's theme is "Usual and Unusual Suspects.

Dr. Terry Magnuson, UNC Vice Chancellor for Research, will give opening remarks. The event will feature three lightning talks by professors and researchers in UNC-Chapel Hill's academic community, centered around how data science is used in a broad range of disciplines. These talks will be followed by a guided panel and an opportunity for questions and answers with the speakers. We hope you will enjoy discovering how data science underpins and influences research and daily life.

Speakers:

Kathryn Desplanque, Department of Art & Art History: Kathryn Desplanque is a mixed-race, Black and white, scholar who came to UNC after holding the Carolina Post-Doctoral Fellowship for Faculty Diversity. She specializes in 18th and 19th-century European visual culture. She works with Digital Humanities methodologies, building and querying relational databases to study hundreds of images. Her talk will discuss satirical images of artistic life in Paris published from 1750 - 1850 using Qualitative Data Analysis.

Corbin Jones, Departments of Biology and Genetics: Corbin Jones works in the UNC departments of biology and genetics. The goal of his research is to identify, clone, and characterize the evolution of genes underlying natural adaptations in order to determine the types of genes involved, how many and what types of genetic changes occurred, and the evolutionary history of these changes. His talk will discuss the analysis of spatial genomic data and leveraging ecological research to better understand new data sets.

Timothy Shea, Department of Classics: Timothy Shea is an Assistant Professor of Classical Archaeology at UNC. He received his B.A. in Greek and Latin from Tulane University and his Ph.D. in Art History from Duke University. His research interests are in the art, archaeology, and topography of ancient Greece in the Archaic and Classical periods. His talk will discuss the Spatial Antiquity Lab, a space dedicated to research and teaching in Spatial Humanities and focused on the study of ancient cities and urbanism.

Register

Listening Sessions - NIH Stakeholders Discuss Racial & Ethnic Equity

NIH wants to listen and learn from YOU! Join a session and make your voice heard.

The UNITE initiative was established to identify and address structural racism within the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-supported community and the greater scientific community. NIH’s initiative aims to establish an equitable and civil culture within the biomedical research enterprise and reduce barriers to racial and ethnic equity in the biomedical research workforce.

WHAT: The listening sessions are part of UNITE’s efforts to listen and learn. Key stakeholders at all levels of the biomedical research community who work and serve in diverse settings and hold various roles, and who partner and collaborate with research teams have important experiences and insights to share. The insights that you share will provide valuable information on the full range of issues and challenges facing diverse talent within the scientific and administrative workforce and will help develop priorities and an action plan.

WHEN: Please find the schedule of listening sessions below and register for a session that best aligns with your affiliation.

Listening Sessions (Selection based on interests)

If you have further questions regarding these sessions, please feel free to email Christen Sandoval at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Register

This one-day course will be offered via Zoom only. Attendance is required as it will not be recorded.

Course Summary:
This short course will provide participants with a broad overview of considerations and approaches for capturing sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in survey research. This includes examining the current best practices and approaches, and considerations for sampling and other key design considerations when researching these populations. The workshop is intended to give participants an opportunity to better understand the various current approaches to measuring SOGI, and hands-on practice developing responsive best-practice versions of SOGI questions for their own research needs.

Topics:
- The (in)consistency of including SOGI items in research
- Reviewing national and state approaches to SOGI data collection
- The components of sexual orientation and gender identity
- Measuring SOGI together, and separately
- Considerations when measuring SOGI minorities among other minority groups
- Thinking of SOGI as a not-so-sensitive answer, but potentially a sensitive question
- Moving beyond binaries in response options
- Developing fit-for-purpose SOGI questions for unique subpopulations or survey needs
- Resources for SOGI best-practices and emerging research

Instructor: Justine Bulgar-Medina
Justine Bulgar-Medina is a research methodologist at the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, working in the Department of Statistics and Methodology. As associated faculty in the MPPA program at Northwestern University, she teaches courses in research methods and public policy. Bulgar-Medina is an active member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research where she serves as the Associate Chair for the Conference Support Committee in addition to serving as Chair of the Student & Early Career Engagement Subcommittee. She is also an active member of the American Statistical Association and American Sociological Association. Prior to joining NORC at the University of Chicago and Northwestern, Bulgar-Medina was a faculty member at Merrimack College where she taught courses in research methods, statistics, public policy and criminology. Bulgar-Medina completed her doctoral work in Sociology & Survey Research at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.

Registration Fees
- UNC-CH Students: $40
- UNC-CH Faculty/Staff/Postdoc: $60

Additional Course Registration
- Registration will close at 12:01 am on 1/24/2022. No late registrations will be accepted.
- Cancellation/ Refund Policy: A full refund will be given to those who cancel their registration no later than 10 days prior to the course. If you cancel within 10 days prior to the class, no refund will be given. Please allow 30 days to receive your refund.
- Zoom link for this course will be sent prior to the course. Registration must be made at least 3 days prior to the course date to receive the Zoom link.

For questions regarding the status of this class, please contact Jill Stevens at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Register

Listening Sessions - NIH Stakeholders Discuss Racial & Ethnic Equity

NIH wants to listen and learn from YOU! Join a session and make your voice heard.

The UNITE initiative was established to identify and address structural racism within the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-supported community and the greater scientific community. NIH’s initiative aims to establish an equitable and civil culture within the biomedical research enterprise and reduce barriers to racial and ethnic equity in the biomedical research workforce.

WHAT: The listening sessions are part of UNITE’s efforts to listen and learn. Key stakeholders at all levels of the biomedical research community who work and serve in diverse settings and hold various roles, and who partner and collaborate with research teams have important experiences and insights to share. The insights that you share will provide valuable information on the full range of issues and challenges facing diverse talent within the scientific and administrative workforce and will help develop priorities and an action plan.

WHEN: Please find the schedule of listening sessions below and register for a session that best aligns with your affiliation.

Listening Sessions (Selection based on interests)

If you have further questions regarding these sessions, please feel free to email Christen Sandoval at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Register

Pragmatic Trial of User-Centered Clinical Decision Support to Implement Emergency Department-Initiated Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder

This NIH Collaboratory Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds features:

Edward R Melnick, MD, MHS
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Yale School of Medicine
Associate Professor of Biostatistics (Health Informatics), Yale School of Public Health
Program Director, Yale-VA Clinical Informatics Fellowship Program
Gail D’Onofrio, MD, MS
Albert E. Kent Professor of Emergency Medicine
Yale School of Medicine
Professor of Public Health, Chronic Disease & Epidemiology
Yale School of Public Health

Learn More