Building GIS Capacity Across the Globe
Train the Trainer
By John Schaeffer, GISP, and Karen Beardsley, PhD, GISP
Resource shortages, population growth, and cli-
mate change are just a few of the critical problems
facing society today. The solutions will require the
best that science and technology can offer, and
GIS is an essential tool for those solving many of
these pressing issues. Many opportunities exist
for GIS training in the United States, but this is
not always the case in developing countries, espe-
cially for those working in conservation-based or-
ganizations. To help address this deficiency, Esri
Silver Tier Partner Juniper GIS of Bend, Oregon,
and the Society for Conservation GIS (SCGIS)
have joined forces to strengthen GIS capacity
among conservationists around the world with
their Train the Trainer (TTT) program.
The challenges in underdeveloped countries
include access to the technology and expertise
to implement these tools. Over the past 10 years,
hardware and software pricing have come down
due to economy of scale and market competi-
tion, and the Esri Conservation Program has
gone a long way toward making the software
easily accessible to qualified conservation
groups. But the challenges of finding competent
personnel to implement and take advantage of
these advances in technology still remain.
Since 1997, SCGIS has been providing inten-
sive GIS training in the United States to 15 to
20 international participants (Scholars) from
around the world each summer. While this is a
very successful program, there is still a need to
provide a cost-effective method to grow capac-
ity for hands-on GIS training in environmental
and conservation applications, especially in de-
veloping countries. The TTT program is one op-
tion to meet this need by helping future trainers
develop skills and course materials for teaching
GIS. This is intended to supplement and extend
the SCGIS Scholars training program by pro-
viding previous scholars with the opportunity
to become qualified trainers. At the end of this
program, the Scholar/trainee possesses im-
proved GIS skills, improved teaching skills, and
a complete set of course materials for teaching
a one-week core GIS class.
Since 2009, John Schaeffer [one of the authors]
of Juniper GIS, who has more than 20 years of
experience using and teaching GIS, has been the
lead instructor for the SCGIS Scholars program.
He has developed an integrated in-depth series
of conservation GIS courses that are used in the
SCGIS international Scholars program, as well
as other trainings. In cooperation with SCGIS,
he has been working to develop other trainers
to use this material in their home countries.
He has also been involved with several other
TTT programs funded by the National Science
Foundation and other organizations.
The SCGIS/Juniper GIS TTT program began
in 2011. SCGIS leaders established an applica-
tion process and created a formal contract with
the trainee to become a Juniper GIS Authorized
Instructor with full access to Juniper GIS course
material. The first TTT candidate was Cecilia
Cronemberger, a 2009 Scholar from Brazil. During
the more than two-week Scholars training pro-
gram, she assisted in the class as a helper and
presented lectures, and during breaks, she and
Schaeffer discussed how the class and course ma-
terial work, typical problems students might have
and how to solve them, and classroom manage-
ment. Each evening, they worked together on class
preparation, teaching skills, how to design a class
and develop course material, and all the other de-
tails that make for successful teaching. Upon com-
pleting the program, she was granted her Juniper
GIS Instructor certificate, along with the official
Juniper GIS uniform, her own Hawaiian shirt.
Since her graduation in July 2011, she has taught
eight classes to approximately 100 students in
Brazil, greatly helping expand GIS training.
In 2012, SCGIS selected Carlos de Angelo
(“Carlitos”), a 2011 Scholar from Argentina,
to be the TTT candidate. His training was the
same as Cronemberger’s, and in July 2012 he
was awarded his Juniper GIS Instructor certifi-
cate and shirt. Since then, he has taught two
classes to 29 students in Argentina, with several
more classes planned for 2014.
To expand the TTT program, in 2013 a new ap-
proach was taken, which was to send Schaeffer
to the SCGIS Scholars in their home regions to
provide the TTT training. This program, for two
to four trainees, consists of a three-day advanced
GIS class for the trainees and GIS users from lo-
cal conservation groups, a five-day ArcGIS for
Environmental Analysis (AE) class in which the
trainees served as helpers and gave some pre-
sentations, and three to four days during which
Schaeffer and the trainees work together on
teaching skills and issues. After reaching out
to the SCGIS International Chapters, Schaeffer