Arthur Vining Davis Foundations
Support Geographic Information System
Laboratory at Allegheny College

The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations have awarded Allegheny College a $250,000 grant to support a geographic information system (GIS) laboratory in Carr Hall, part of a 19,000-square-foot renovation project to create an environmental science education center at the college.

The new 24-workstation GIS lab will feature advanced computer software and hardware that allow users to input, manipulate and analyze geographic and spatial data from maps, surveys, satellite images and other sources. Once stored in the GIS, these data can be integrated to create images that show relationships between the different variables being studied.

"Employers who hire environmental science majors expect them to have significant GIS experience, and this new laboratory will greatly expand and enhance opportunities for our students to develop these important skills," said Terrence Bensel, chair of Allegheny's environmental science department. "We are grateful to the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations for their generosity in supporting this project, and we are particularly excited that the GIS laboratory will provide increased opportunities for collaboration among students and faculty from across the disciplines at Allegheny."

In its current, smaller GIS laboratory, Allegheny offers two environmental science courses focused on GIS mapping, both of which are heavily oversubscribed when offered. Environmental science faculty and students also use the lab to conduct research for other classes, internships, senior comprehensive projects and community outreach initiatives. In addition, several other departments – including art, biology, geology and political science – incorporate GIS components into courses.

Allegheny students have used GIS research to assist area nonprofits, government agencies and private businesses with a variety of research projects. They have investigated, among other questions, where storm water infiltration into sewer lines might result in raw sewage discharge into streams; how educational levels, income, race, gender and age affected participation in recent elections; where a wind turbine and biomass facility could be located; and which households in Crawford County are at high risk for lead contamination.

Allegheny's environmental science department has attracted national attention for its innovative approach to encouraging students to address important regional issues. The Carr Hall renovations will bring together all of the classroom, laboratory and office space for the environmental science department, which currently shares facilities with other academic programs. The renovations also will significantly enhance instructional areas dedicated to physics.

Fundraising continues for the estimated $5.7 million project; the college has secured commitments to date from foundations and individual donors totaling approximately 90 percent of the cost. That support includes a $1 million award from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, $250,000 of which is a challenge grant that will be released when the college has raised $2 million for the project from other foundations, including family foundations. Allegheny has received $1.7 million toward the challenge grant thus far.

For more information about supporting the project, contact Allegheny's Office of Development and Alumni Affairs at (814) 332-5910.

Information about the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations may be found at avdf.org.