Technical Assistance
Many organizations offer free or discounted technical support, consulting, training, hardware, or software to groups doing environmental conservation or science work.
Society for Conservation GIS Listserve
The Society for Conservation GIS (SCGIS) assists conservationists worldwide in using GIS through communication, networking, scholarships, and training. Membership is open to any individual seeking assistance in the achievement of personal or organizational conservation goals. The SCGIS Listserve is an invaluable resource for GIS practitioners to get quick answers to questions from GIS experts from around the world. Learn more.
MARXAN Listserve
MARXAN is the most widely used conservation planning software in the world. The MARXAN listserve provides a forum for MARXAN developers and users to share information and provide support for MARXAN use. Sign-up for the listserve is via the MARXAN home page at www.uq.edu.au/marxan.
ESRI Conservation Program and ESRI Conservation/Geography Grants
The ESRI Conservation Program provides computer technology and training to non-profit organizations and individual projects. Non-profit and non-government organizations working for social justice, environment, indigenous rights or public benefit in any nation or individuals volunteering for these types of groups may apply for a grant. There are no grant cycles or deadlines, and applications can be made at any time. For more information, visit www.esri.com/grant. To receive the current grant guidelines, send a blank email to grant@esri.com. It will auto-email back to you the complete form.
Society for Conservation GIS Global Scholarships
The Society for Conservation GIS (SCGIS) Global Scholarship Program provides partial support to attend two weeks of training in GIS and conservation GIS applications in California and attend the ESRI User Conference and SCGIS Annual Conference. At these two conferences, the scholarship awardees will be able to present results of their work, meet colleagues from all over the world, and learn about the most recent trends in GIS technology. Learn more.
Mappamondo GIS Products, Services, and Training
Mappamondo GIS makes products, services and training available at reduced cost (50%) to non-profit organizations around the world carrying out work on endangered species and environmental conservation using GIS and Remote Sensing technologies. Learn more.
Google Earth Outreach Software and Technical Support
The Google Earth Outreach program supports conservation organizations and other public interest groups interested in using Google Earth for their projects. The program includes free grants of Google Earth Pro to qualified non-profit organizations, online guides, video tutorials, case studies about using Google Earth specifically targeted to the needs of nonprofit organizations, online forums connecting new participants to experienced programmers who can assist in developing Keyhole Markup Language (KML) layers for Google Earth, and a discussion forum where the Outreach team will provide direct technical support. Participating organizations may be highlighted in the Google Earth Outreach Showcase, an online gallery of the most compelling new layers, and a subset of those will be featured in the Global Awareness folder in Google Earth on a rotating basis. Learn more.
Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (KNB) Data Curation
The Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (KNB) is an international data repository to facilitate ecological and environmental research. It is accepting nominations on an ongoing basis for the inclusion of particularly valuable ecological data sets within the KNB. Nominations will be evaluated based on quality, potential utility, scope and whether they address critical and/or novel issues. Consideration will also be given to preservation of legacy data based on lifelong research efforts by individuals or institutions. KNB staff will collate and document the selected data sets in the KNB and assist and instruct others interested in contributing their data or metadata. The KNB is committed to making these data more broadly known and accessible throughout the ecological community for perpetuity. They respect and enforce all requested restrictions on data access. Learn more.
Planet Action Imagery & GIS Grants to Support Local Projects Affected by Climate Change
Planet Action is a non-for-profit collaborative initiative launched in June 2007 by Spot Image, a world leader in satellite imagery. Its purpose is to encourage the Earth Observation industry and geographic information professional communities to help and tackle the climate change related issues. Planet Action grants SPOT Imagery of all types to projects working on locally based conservation issues about or affected by climate change. The projects can include socially-defined issues and a broad range of conservation projects from any or all of the 5 planet action program domains. Any non-profit or non-government organization working for social justice, environment, indigenous rights or public benefit in any nation, or any individual volunteering for these types of groups, may apply for a grant. Learn More
