A probationary GIS Institute has been established to promote communication and foster interdisciplinary research among UI departments using GIS in research and teaching. The Institute is a flexible structure; its mission includes the following:

• Encourage participation by the GIS users
• Identify internal and external research opportunities
• Foster the preparation and submission of collaborative research proposals
• Coordinate applications of GIS for solving local, regional and state problems.

The members of the Institute are all faculty members interested and actively using GIS technology in research and teaching activities at the University of Idaho. The first meeting of the Institute was on April 8, 1998.

An important step towards facilitating the cooperation among GIS users at the University of Idaho is the development of spatial data infrastructure. Such a facility is currently being developed as the Idaho Geospatial Data Center. It will be open to on- and off-campus users in the summer of 1998. The data center will allow one to browse, select, and download via the Internet, state-wide GIS-format data sets.

• Anthropology
• Biological and Agricultural Engineering
• Environmental Science
• Fish and Wildlife
• Forest Resources
• Geography
• Geology and Geological Engineering
• Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit
• Idaho Geological Survey
• Landscape Architecture
• University of Idaho Library
• Plant, Soil and Entomological Sciences
• Resource Recreation and Tourism