In keeping with the NASA strategic objective Mission to Planet Earth, the Earth and Environmental Sciences faculty at Rocky Mountain College (RMC) request start up funds to develop a new summer course. Students will apply their college training to landscape analysis using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies. First, they will assemble coverages of geology, plant and animal communities at a large Montana ranch. These coverages will be developed using landsat images, aerial photography, and field work. Second, they will use the coverages to explore relationships among landscape elements. This course will apply space-based technology to environmental problems facing Montana and the greater West. This experience will encourage students to solve problems in their communities using GIS/GPS technologies.

The project consists of four phases: instructor training, course preparation, course instruction, and evaluation. Instructor training will occur at the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) training centers in California and Colorado. Students will receive course instruction at the GIS facility at RMC in Billings, Montana and the Bair Trust Ranch near Martinsdale, Montana. This proposal requests matching funds to pay for instructor training and salaries, students work study, mapping supplies, and transportation.

Contact Information

Mail:	Dr. Jennifer Lyman
	Earth and Environmental Sciences
	Rocky Mountain College 1511 Poly Drive
	Billings, MT 59102