Author: Chau Nguyen
GIS Day 2024 provided a platform to inspire students, showcase cutting-edge applications, and foster collaboration, reinforcing the importance of GIS in building a sustainable and equitable future.

On November 20th, 2024, York University’s Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change (EUC) hosted the GIS Day 2024 celebration, welcoming nearly 100 high school students and teachers to an immersive celebration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and geomatics.
GIS Day is a global event that highlights the transformative power of GIS and its role in solving real-world problems. From urban planning and environmental conservation to disaster management and spatial analysis, GIS continues to shape the way we understand and interact with the world.

The event ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Health, Nursing, and Environmental Studies (HNES) building. Participants explored a range of topics presented by EUC professors, including:
- Urban sustainability, socio-spatial politics and critical GIS: Examining spaces of engagement in Toronto schools
- Selfie to science: Enhancing river flow measurements using velocimetry techniques
- Modern direct georeferencing technology: Overview and prospects
“GIS is needed in everyday life,” said Adeyemi Olusola, assistant professor at EUC. “It helps us from transportation communications to research. It helps us to live more sustainably, to govern better, to plan better and that’s really important to us as we live our day-to-day lives.”
Besides professors, students also played a key role in the event by presenting their research:
- Katherine Tse, a fifth-year Environmental Science student, showcased her work on hydrological modeling of Black Creek’s response to a major storm event.
- Chifuniro Ngalande, a graduate student in the Earth and Science Master’s graduate program, talked about using GIS to create labels and annotations for deep learning models.

“I think GIS Day is a good initiative, actually getting us exposed to different types of projects out there,” said Ngalande. “I think when you’re working on GIS, you’re isolated in a way, you don’t really get to experience what other people are doing, so [the event] does expose you to how people are using GIS in their different fields.”
The event also featured engaging contributions from the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). TRCA presented on the applications of LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), a remote sensing technology used to examine Earth’s surface.
In addition to the presentation, TRCA also brought with them an augmented reality (AR) 3D sandbox which demonstrates terrain changes in real time. Participants could shape hills, rivers, or water bodies by moving the sand, or produce rainfall by hovering a hand above the box. For a detailed explanation of how it works, visit this video.

Events like GIS Day can help students learn to analyze, visualize, and understand the world from a fresh perspective as they interact with tools and real-world examples, according to Brittany Giglio, recruitment & liaison officer at EUC.
“We are thrilled to host a GIS event for high school students, offering a chance to explore the power of maps and spatial thinking!” said Giglio. “This event helps build important skills like problem-solving, spatial analysis, and critical thinking skills that will be essential for tackling future changes in the environment.”