By Tasbiha Fatima Hasan  

Writer / Reporter

Lead photo: The author explores GIS tools during a hands-on mapmaking session at the 2026 Esri User Conference in San Diego. Photo by Tasbiha Fatima Hasan.

What happens between collecting data and seeing a finished map? 

At the 2026 Esri User Conference in San Diego, I had the opportunity to explore that process firsthand. In addition to attending presentations and demonstrations, I participated in a hands-on lab where I worked directly with GIS and mapping tools. 

For me, this was one of the most valuable parts of the conference. Watching someone demonstrate technology can introduce a concept, but using the tools yourself creates a different kind of understanding. 

During the lab, I worked with geographic information and explored how data can be represented spatially. It reinforced something important about GIS: The map we eventually see is only one part of a much larger process. 

Before information becomes a map, data must be collected, organized and analyzed. Researchers then have to decide which variables matter, how they should be represented and what geographic patterns they are trying to understand. 

Another conference topic that caught my attention was the connection between R and ArcGIS. R is commonly used for statistical computing and data analysis, while GIS adds the geographic dimension. Connecting these approaches can allow analysts to move from asking, “What pattern exists in my data?” to asking, “Where does this pattern occur?” 

That distinction is particularly relevant to environmental research. 

Consider water-quality measurements. A spreadsheet can tell a researcher the concentration of a substance in different samples, but GIS can connect those measurements to lakes, rivers, watersheds or communities. Similar approaches can be applied to vegetation, land use, climate and other environmental datasets. 

My hands-on experience also changed how I thought about learning technical skills. It is easy to focus on mastering individual software commands. Yet the larger goal is understanding how those tools contribute to answering a question. 

For students beginning to explore GIS or data analytics, that may be the most important lesson. 

A map is not simply an attractive visualization at the end of a project. It represents decisions about data, analysis and place.  

My first major takeaway from Esri UC could therefore be summarized in four steps: 

Data → Analysis → Map → Understanding. 

And sometimes, the best way to understand that process is simply to start working with the map yourself.