We are excited to welcome Gohar Shahinyan to our team as the new GIS Specialist! Gohar brings extensive experience in using spatial thinking and mapping technologies within institutions of higher education, government, and non-profit organizations. She most recently worked in Yerevan, Armenia developing and leading training in GIS as part of an EU-funded research project focused on ocean digitalization, marine sustainability, and the blue economy. She also taught GIS courses and served as a GIS & Remote Sensing Specialist at American University of Armenia and at the Vine and Wine Foundation within Armenia’s Ministry of Economy. As a Bates College alumna (Environmental Studies and Russian Studies), Gohar is at home in the liberal arts environment, which has also influenced her multidisciplinary approach to problem solving using spatial thinking and analysis. Gohar is currently working on her thesis in identifying early warning signals of a critical slowing down in Siberian larch forests as part of a joint Master’s program with University of Twente (Netherlands) and Lund University (Sweden).
In the role of GIS Specialist Gohar will support mapping across the curriculum, including class projects, and student and faculty research. She will manage the College’s ArcGIS Online instance and ArcGIS Pro licenses and offer workshops and individual training for those interested in using this software and other tools to analyze and visualize spatial data. Look for her Camp Teach & Learn workshop on the schedule this May!
Gohar’s office is located in the Digital Scholarship & Curriculum Center on the lower level of Shain Library.
Welcome, Gohar!