State & local government
- Natural Resources Open DataWashington State Department of Natural Resources GIS Open Data and Open Mapping repository.
- Bellingham GIS data & mapsDownload data and use interactive mapping tools from the City of Bellingham
- Ferndale GIS data & mapsOnline map viewer and other tools from Ferndale's GIS specialist
- Whatcom County data setsAccess shoreline and zoning data from Whatcom County
Map application downloads
- VegScapeUS Agriculture Department webpage for examining the condition of vegetation across the country.
Federal agencies
- Census BureauTIGER/Line Files and Shapefiles contain geographic entity codes (GEOIDs) that can be linked to the Census Bureau’s demographic data.
- Environmental Protection AgencyGeospatial resources from the EPA and how to find environmental data through federal repositories
- Fish & Wildlife ServiceAccess data and mapping tools about critical habitat, endangered species, wetlands, coastal barriers, bird conservation, and more.
- USGS (Department of the Interior)Use The National Map downloader to download base-layer GIS data and USGS topographic maps
GIS data repositories
- GeoCommonsGeoCommons is a community contributed collection of open data from around the world. Uploaded by the public, data are often from public and open government website and sources. The searchable archive includes over 150,000 datasets as GeoJSON stored in Github and available to preview, download or explore in ArcGIS.com.
ArcGIS user accounts
Accounts for the cloud-based ArcGIS Online and desktop-based ArcGIS Pro can be created with your WWU email address. Follow the instructions here to create your ArcGIS account.
Spatial Institute
Part of WWU's College of the Environment, the Spatial Institute offers courses and research on GIS, remote sensing, GPS, cartography, interactive mapping, and disaster response.
Library materials
Mapping Israel, Mapping Palestine by Publication Date: 2017Jess Bier challenges the view that digital maps are universal and value-free. She examines the ways that maps are made in Palestine and Israel to show how social and political landscapes shape the practice of science and technology. How can two scientific cartographers look at the same geographic feature and see fundamentally different things?
Participatory MappingPublication Date: 2014This book is intended for applications of online digital mapping, called mashups (or composite application), and to analyze the mapping practices in online socio-technical controversies.
Geospatial Information Handbook for Water Resources and Watershed ManagementPublication Date: 2022This multivolume handbook is the most comprehensive and updated reference of advanced geospatial techniques for water recourse and watershed management and a successful vehicle for quality solutions.
