Jaewook (Will) Lee

In Geob 270, I learned to consider data as being something that can be manipulated in favour of one’s interests, and as such should be understood to contain ethical implications. This also encouraged me to consider how data can be manipulated to be most useful for a particular audience. Furthermore, I have discovered that I thrive in group settings. I enjoy cultivating discussion and bouncing ideas off of teammates; I enjoyed working on my final project more than working on the other labs on my own.

For our final project, my group members and I considered many possibilities for topics, but we were determined to conduct an analysis of Vancouver that would prove useful to its residents. After some discussion between bicycle lanes in Vancouver and possible uses for the city’s newly purchased tracts of land, we agreed to collect data and prepare an analysis of the areas of Vancouver that were most at risk of damage from a large earthquake. Many residents of Vancouver are familiar with the fact that scientists have predicted that a large…read more

Accomplishments I attained close familiarity with the ArcGIS software group, and am now capable of compiling data and representing them efficiently. This proficiency comes simultaneously with being able to find and sort through data sets to extract necessary information from multiple sources. I was able to understand the work flow of data processing. The first few labs helped me to visualize logical blueprints that allowed for the data to be most accurately and usefully presented for the audience. In an extension to this lesson, I was able to practice being more…read more

Lab 5: This was the most extensive lab so far. Northland Properties and the Aquilini Investment Group of Vancouver had proposed a year-round mountain resort project, called the Garibaldi at Squamish. This proposal was for a tract of mountain land on Brohm Ridge, 15 km north of Squamish on Highway 99. The proposal estimates that the project will provide 900 construction jobs during construction and 2,500 jobs during operation, and will require 20 years to build. The BC Environmental Assessment Office responded to the proposal stating its concerns with the…read more

Lab 4: In this lab, I was given another scenario. This time, I took on the role of an employee of the Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper, as a data journalist. I had been commissioned to author an article on cost of housing and housing affordability. I focused on two major cities in Canada: Vancouver and Ottawa. This lab focused on the ethics behind the representation of data and how it can be manipulated to support one’s purposes. These maps and analyses required familiarity with census data, tables, joins, classification,…read more

Lab 3: In this lab, I was immersed in a scenario where I was hired by the City of Vancouver GIS department and I was tasked with preparing a map that highlights the areas in the city that are more at risk from a tsunami. This lab worked with spatial analysis, tables, and editing. During this lab, we analyzed the Tsunami risk for the Greater Vancouver area. Using the data provided, I constructed a map that differentiated the land area in danger from the area out of danger. In ArcCatalog, I selected the Sum_Shape_Area…read more

Lab 2: This Lab highlighted the importance of coordinate systems and methods of projection. It also helped explain how to change these aspects so that the data can be most useful. There are key reasons to pay attention to the projection type used to represent data on a map. For example, the GCS North American 1983 coordinate system is recommended for pilots over the Canada Lambert Conformal Conic coordinate system. This is because the former is a Geodesic map projection, which takes into account the spherical nature of the Earth,…read more

Lab 1: This lab’s primary focus was to familiarize oneself with some of the ArcGIS software’s basic functions. There was not much work produced that would accurately demonstrate how this lab improved my proficiency with the ArcGIS programs.