ISIA History

The Institute for Spatial Information and Analysis (ISIA) was approved by the faculty of Huxley College (now Huxley College of the Environment) in 1999 with the intention of facilitating the exchange of spatial information on the WWU campus. The ISIA’s physical resources include the Huxley Map Library (HML) in Arntzen Hall 101 and Huxley’s Spatial Analysis Lab (now Labs) (SAL).

The purpose of the Institute is:

To provide leadership at Western in dissemination of spatial information on campus; to promote the use of this information for education and research; and to provide a venue for collaborative research and exchange of spatial information among Western faculty and staff in this field.

While both the HML and the SAL have their own respective objectives and missions, as part of the ISIA they share the common goals of serving the campus community’s needs with regard to gathering and accessing spatial information in the form of both paper and digital maps and data sets. The ISIA, and the HML in particular, serve the broader campus and often community needs in addition to those of Huxley College. The HML collection includes over 255,000 paper maps in addition to approximately 35,000 aerial photos, 1,000 atlases, and extensive digital data. Both facilities provide computers with access to GIS and other spatial software programs and share server space storing spatial data sets (both raw data and maps). Additionally, the HML provides large format scanning (e.g. of archival maps) and both the HML and the SAL provide large format printing. The SAL also provides GPS equipment for checkout for academic projects.

The ISIA, HML and SAL web sites provide students, faculty and the larger academic community with information regarding spatial data resources, tools and other assistance. There is also information on spatial analysis courses taught through Huxley College as well as other departments on campus.

The ISIA presents a free GPS workshop open to the WWU campus community once each quarter. Numerous GIS, Remote Sensing and Cartography courses are taught in the SAL by Huxley College as well as the Geology Department.

Staff affiliated with the ISIA:

Janet Collins, Director and Map Librarian, Huxley Map Library, Huxley College of the Environment
Stefan Freelan, GIS Specialist, Dept. of Environmental Studies, Huxley College of the Environment
Dave Knutson, Lab Manager, Information Technology Specialist, Dept. of Environmental Studies, Huxley College of the Environment

Faculty affiliated with the ISIA:

Andy Bach, Associate Professor, Dept. of Environmental Studies, Huxley College of the Environment
Michael Medler, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Environmental Studies, Huxley College of the Environment

ISIA (Interim) Co-Directors:

Andy Bach, Associate Professor
Stefan Freelan, GIS Specialist