Community Collaborations

The Grinnell Geographic Information System (GIS) Park Mapping Project goals are to: (1) build campus-community partnerships around the use of GIS as a planning tool and educational resource, and (2) map the physical, natural, and cultural resources of Grinnell’s parks.

The project, initiated in May 2004, involves creating detailed maps of our parks’ natural resources, physical features, buildings, and recreational equipment and involving city staff, college students, high school students, and volunteers in the mapping process and spatial analyses.

The data collected in the parks using global positioning system (GPS) units will be available to anyone interested in Grinnell’s parks. The data can be used for analyses and problem solving, like determining tree planting, pruning, and mulching needs, identifying potential areas for park improvements (like hiking/biking trails, landscaping, picnic shelters, recreational equipment), and locating special resources like skate boarding courses or dog parks.

One of many results of this project will be an interactive, printable map of Grinnell locating all of the parks and their physical, recreational, and natural resources.

Larissa Mottl, biological field station manager with the Center for Prairie Studies is coordinating the mapping project, including recruiting volunteers, training them to use the field equipment, scheduling data collection, providing periodic updates to project stakeholders, and distributing project results. If you are interested in participating in the project, please contact Larissa at 641-269-4717 or mottll@grinnell.edu.