Upcoming Webinars:
Connecticut’s New GIS Parcel Data Creation Guidance and Specifications
Thursday, March 26, 2026 - 1 PM
Presenter: Ashley Benítez, CT GIS Office
Host: UConn CLEAR
The Connecticut GIS Parcel Data Creation Guidance and Specifications (“Parcel Guidance”) is a technical framework developed by the GIS Advisory Council’s Parcel Data Creation Working Group in collaboration with the Connecticut GIS Office. This guidance establishes consistent methods and quality standards for creating, maintaining, and updating parcel GIS data, ensuring uniformity and interoperability across the state.
In this webinar, we will provide an overview of the Parcel Guidance, explain its purpose, and discuss why it is critical for municipalities, data creators, and GIS professionals. While not a formal parcel standard, this guidance offers practical recommendations for digitizing and managing parcel data effectively. Attendees will gain insight into best practices, technical specifications, and the benefits of adopting a consistent approach to parcel data creation.
Required Zoning Changes for New Housing Law
Wednesday, April 15, 2026 - 12 PM
Presenters: UConn CLEAR & CT Housing Collective
CT's new housing law, passed during the special session last year, is intended to expand housing options throughout the state. It includes several requirements for community action that land use commissioners should be aware of. This is the first of three webinars CLEAR will host in collaboration with The Housing Collective on the law. This webinar will focus on the changes that communities must make to their zoning regulations by July 1, 2026 to (1) allow for summary review for middle housing and (2) changes to parking minimums. It will provide an overview of what is required and why. There will also be a panel discussion with housing attorneys and planners on implementation of the provisions.
On the Edge: What do we know about Riparian Buffers?
Thursday, April 23, 2026 - 1 PM
Presenters: Juliana Barrett, Owen Placido, Dave Dickson, UConn CLEAR & CT Sea Grant
The UConn CLEAR and CT Sea Grant team have been working over the past year to integrate information and develop tools for better management and restoration of riparian buffers in Connecticut. Please join us for an interactive presentation by UConn CLEAR and CT Sea Grant focused on the status of riparian buffers in our state, land use trends within riparian buffers, recent legislative updates, and a new upcoming tool for landowners to manage and restore this critical habitat in Connecticut. We will be seeking your feedback on how to tailor outreach information and the new riparian buffer tool to increase the positive impact of riparian buffers in our watersheds. This webinar is the first in a three-part series , with the next webinar exploring the new tool in depth, and the final one comprised of short presentations from watershed groups on how they are working to protect, manage and restore riparian areas.
Previous Webinars:
Thursday, March 19, 2026 - 1 PM
Presenters: Dave Dickson, Emily Wilson, and Qian “Rachel” Lei-Parent, UConn CLEAR
Part 2 of the series on UConn CLEAR’s updated land cover tracking project. Using data from the Annual NLCD (National Land Cover Database), CLEAR has made land cover data for the entire Long Island Sound watershed available in a map viewer and dashboard. This webinar will highlight what the data tells us about how our landscape has changed from 1985 –2023 in the whole watershed (up to the Canadian border), in our state, and in our towns and watersheds. The webinar will also explore land cover trends within the 300ft riparian zone along our waterways, a critical area for resilience and stream health.
Thursday, March 5, 2026 - 1 PM
Presenters: Emily Wilson and Qian “Rachel” Lei-Parent, UConn CLEAR
UConn CLEAR will soon release a land cover tool that includes a new map viewer and new data dashboards for exploring land cover and land cover change in Connecticut and the entire Long Island Sound Watershed (5 states!). The tool uses a recently released land cover series called Annual NLCD (National Land Cover Database) which is created by USGS and a consortium of federal agencies. The tool allows for exploration of both watershed and town land cover and change starting in 1985 and analyzed every 5 years until 2023 and also includes analyses in the 300ft riparian zone (land near water ways). The webinar is part of a two-part series that will introduce the new datasets and demonstrate how to use the tools. We anticipate public release in early 2026 when the tools can be found on the CT ECO land cover page.
Thursday, February 26, 2026 - 1 PM
Presenters: Qian “Rachel” Lei-Parent and David Dickson, UConn CLEAR
Nitrogen (N) from residential lawn fertilizer is one of the most challenging and persistent problems impacting the health of Long Island Sound (LIS). An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Clark University, UConn, the University of Maryland, and the University of Miami collaborated on an effort to develop a LIS Lawn Fertilizer Outreach Optimization Tool. Combining social science and two tools that model nitrogen interactions with the landscape, the resulting data and tool can help inform lawn fertilizer education and outreach campaigns target areas that are likely to have a significant impact on water quality.
This webinar will walk through the methodology behind the tool and demonstrate how to use it to inform outreach efforts.
Thursday, January 29, 2026
Speakers: Dr. Thomas Meyer, NGS CT State Geodetic Co-Coordinator, Professor of Geodesy, UConn
The US National Geodetic Survey (NGS) will re-design the national State Plane Coordinate System with the release of our new national reference frame, the North American Terrestrial Reference Frame 2022 (NATRF 2022). This webinarwill show the differences of the new system and the one we use today, SPCS83, show some example coordinates in the new system, and offer some thoughts about what to expect from the changes.
Thursday, January 15, 2026
Speakers: Chris Renshaw, UConn Fire Chief & Emily Wilson, UConn CLEAR
Bringing together extensive knowledge about wildfire, firefighting, and natural resources in Connecticut, UConn Fire Chief Chris Renshaw discovered overlapping conditions that show how Connecticut could suffer a similar fate to Maui, Hawaii, where a surprise and devastating wildfire caused destruction and loss of life. A new story map and map viewer explain the overlapping conditions of fire ecology, forest health, changing weather, and housing density, and compare them to recent brush fires across the state. During the webinar, Chris and Emily will explain the situation through the story map and discuss what Connecticut fire departments and residents can do. A must attend for land managers, elected officials, and fire service personnel. Find the Wildfire in Connecticut Story Map and the CT Wildland-Urban Interface/Intermix Viewer on the CT Wildland Fire section of CT ECO: https://maps.cteco.uconn.edu/projects/fire/.
Thursday, December 11, 12-1PM
Speakers: Andrew Peters, Catherine Bohn, Dan Bubser, Dewberry
Host: Emily Wilson, UConn CLEAR & Alfredo Herrera, CT GIS Office
This webinar will offer an overview of the entire statewide project that started in 2022 and running through 2026. Dewberry will give a review of the data products produced from the 2023 data. We will explore the current ways the data is being used and the future possible uses. Lastly, we’ll look forward at the 2026 acquisition and delivery.
Thursday, December 4, 1-2 PM
Speakers: Adam Benthem, USGS & Alfredo Herrera, CT GIS Office
Host: UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR)
In this final installment of a three-part webinar series, we’ll explore the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) effort to remap the Nation’s hydrography through the 3D Hydrography Program (3DHP) and why now is the time for this significant change.
We’ll highlight how 3DHP improves the accuracy and consistency of surface water data by integrating high-resolution, lidar-derived elevation from the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP). 3DHP also will introduce a modern data framework that supports the Internet of Water initiative. This includes capabilities such as hydroaddressing—linking external datasets to the 3DHP hydrography—and enabling river-centric data searches to improve data discovery and integration. These improvements will allow 3DHP to better serve as a foundational geospatial dataset, enabling agencies and stakeholders at all levels to better align and integrate their water-related data.
November 13, 2025, 1-2 PM ET
Speakers: Tucker Beckett, WestCOG & Alfredo Herrera, CT GIS Office
Host: UConn CLEAR
In this second installment of a three-part webinar series on mapping water in CT, we will talk about WestCOG's experience providing mapping support to towns working to meet their obligations under the MS4 permit. We will be covering the logistics of mapping stormwater infrastructure, data structure, outputs, lessons learned, and how these efforts can carry forward into the culvert mapping requirements of Public Act 25-33. We will also touch on ongoing MS4 coordination work being carried out by the regional Councils of Governments.
October 22, 2025, 1-2 PM ET
Speakers: Laura Kelly & Emily Wilson, UConn CLEAR
Connecticut Trail Finder is a free, interactive website maintained and populated by the UConn CT Trails Program with the goal of helping trail users find publicly accessible hiking, walking, snowshoeing, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, and paddling trails across the state. It is also a platform for trail managers to provide the public with up-to-date, comprehensive information about their trails through individual trail listings that allow users to view a digital trail map, get essential information, submit trip comments and photos, and connect with other users. Learn how features like the search tool, safety alerts, accessible designations, and customized embeddable maps can be used to get the most out of CT Trail Finder as a trail user, manager, or both. Newest features include digital badges, trailside services, and other interface improvements. Join us to learn more about CT Trail Finder, ways to contribute, and how it can work for you!
September 25, 2025, 1-2 PM ET
Host: UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR)
Speakers: DeAva Lambert, CT DEEP & Alfredo Herrera, CT GIS Office
In this first installment of a three-part webinar series, we will be talking about the efforts and activities that the State of Connecticut is conducting and participating in the realm of hydrography and flood mapping. We will cover the base datasets available and the ways in which the state makes use of them. The two following webinars will delve further into specific topics and activities related to all things water and hydrography.
September 11, 2025, 1-1:45 PM ET
Host: UConn CLEAR
Speaker: Alfredo Herrera, CT GIS Office
The CT GIS Office has been busy working on several projects and initiatives over the course of the year. This 45-minute webinar will talk about all the interesting initiatives, applications, and datasets we have been working on and will introduce our upcoming webinar theme that will see out the rest of the year. Hint...it's all about water!
Wednesday, June 18, 2025, 1-2 PM ET
Speakers: Stu DeLand, Camille Fontanella, & Eric Hammerling, CT DEEP
Host: UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR)
In May, the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) launched a web-based tool to assist with the potential siting of solar projects and further the goal of increasing our state’s supply of zero-carbon energy. CREST provides free access to various layers of state, federal, and institutional data – demographic, forestry, geology, land use, water, wildlife, and more – that can be used by municipal planners, solar developers, conservation organizations, members of the public, and others to visualize where renewable energy best fits into Connecticut’s diverse landscape. Learn more about CREST and how to use it from the developers of the tool at DEEP with input from UConn-CLEAR, primary partners with DEEP on the CREST.
May 15, 2025, 1-1:45 PM ET
Hosts: UConn CLEAR
Speakers: Min Huang, CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection; Evan Carlson, Whiteout Solutions; and Emily Wilson, UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR)
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and Whiteout Solutions used drones and low altitude helicopters to collect imagery and elevation data of tidal marshes across the Connecticut coast. This 45 minute webinar will talk about the project, the final data products and what they show, how to view and download in the interactive viewer, and why it was all done in the first place. Join us for the overview and demo. Visit https://maps.cteco.uconn.edu/projects/highres_marsh/ for more information.
May 1, 2025, 1-1:45 PM ET
Hosts: UConn CLEAR
Speakers: Ashley Benitez & Carl Zimmerman, CT GIS Office
This 45-minute introductory presentation is the second in a two-part series on free and open source GIS. It will cover the new and broad ecosystem of GIS and geospatial tools (e.g. viewers, scripting tools and desktop applications), explain how to choose the right tools for your set of uses cases, access public data, and how to conduct simple spatial analyses with QGIS. Attendees will learn about free geospatial software and GIS tools which are widely available, reliable, and powerful. Many have the capabilities of expensive commercial products from the industry leaders. Free tools such as these provide substantial analytic and visualization capabilities to organizations needing location data and visualization solutions such as non-profits, small businesses, land-trusts, and local governments. These tools can be used in conjunction with a variety of public data sets including elevation and parcel data from Connecticut, the federal government, and other entities. This webinar will cover core use cases and processing that small organizations need to map and analyze their data. The webinar builds on content presented in Part I of the Open Source GIS series. View recording and webinar resources from the April webinar.
April 3, 2025, 1-1:45 PM ET
Hosts: UConn CLEAR
Speakers: Carl Zimmerman & Ashley Benitez, CT GIS Office
This 45-minute introductory presentation is the first in a two-part series on free and open source GIS. It will cover the new and broad ecosystem of GIS and geospatial tools (e.g. viewers, scripting tools and desktop applications), explain how to choose the right tools for your set of uses cases, access public data, and how to conduct simple spatial analyses with QGIS. Attendees will learn about free geospatial software and GIS tools which are widely available, reliable, and powerful. Many have the capabilities of expensive commercial products from the industry leaders. Free tools such as these provide substantial analytic and visualization capabilities to organizations needing location data and visualization solutions such as non-profits, small businesses, land-trusts, and local governments. These tools can be used in conjunction with a variety of public data sets including elevation and parcel data from Connecticut, the federal government, and other entities. We will demonstrate a few of the most relevant capabilities such as analysis, big data visualization, and basic map-making.
March 20, 2025, 1-1:30 PM ET
Hosts: UConn CLEAR
Speakers: Cary Chadwick & Emily Wilson, UConn CLEAR and Anya Grondalski, NEIWPCC/Long Island Sound Study
The UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) and the Long Island Sound Study have recently created an in-depth StoryMap focused on the Long Island Sound Watershed. From the rural boreal forest of northern New Hampshire to the rocky beaches of Long Island’s northern coast and the diverse and densely populated boroughs of New York City, the LIS Watershed is home to more than 9 million people This 30-minute webinar will provide an overview of the story map, discussing its utility for municipalities, educators, conservationists, grant applicants and others working and living in the Long Island Sound Watershed.
The Rise of GeoAI: Transforming CT’s High-resolution Remote Sensing Datasets into GIS-ready Products
February 13, 2025, 1-1:45 PM ET
Hosts: UConn CLEAR
Speakers: Chandi Witharana, Assistant Professor, Durga Joshi, PhD Student, Harshana Wedegedara, PhD Student, University of Connecticut, Department of Natural Resources & the Environment
The increasing availability of multimodal remote sensing datasets offers tremendous opportunities to map landscape features and track their changes across space and time. This 45-minute webinar will showcase several new statewide geospatial datasets generated from the latest 2023 leaf-off LiDAR and imagery collection. Connecticut hosts terabytes of high-resolution remote sensing data in online repositories, such as CTECO, ranging from 1930s grayscale aerial photographs to modern multispectral aerial images and high-density 3D LiDAR point clouds. The latest 2023 statewide leaf-off LiDAR survey comprises over 700 billion individual points at a density of roughly 14 points/m², complemented by a concurrent multispectral aerial imagery collection exceeding two trillion image pixels at 8 cm spatial resolution. Integrating LiDAR with aerial imagery enables accurate feature extraction and classification, making it virtually possible to map every urban tree, utility pole, and powerline segment in the state. However, traditional algorithms often struggle under the sheer volume and complexity of these large datasets, underscoring the need for high-throughput, GeoAI-powered analysis pipelines that can operate at scale. This webinar will showcase geospatial products including tree canopy height, plant area index, and foliage height diversity, and will discuss how these products contribute to downstream analysis and synthesis efforts, such as urban tree equity, forest carbon modelling, and roadside vegetation management.
January 23, 2025, 1-1:30 PM ET
Hosts: UConn CLEAR
Speakers: Ashley Benítez, CT GIS Office
This 30-minute webinar provides an introduction to Connecticut’s broadband landscape, showcasing the work involved in developing and maintaining datasets on broadband availability, adoption and other key datasets. Learn how the office processes public and provider-submitted data to measure and track broadband deployment to inform residents, policymakers, and broadband stakeholders in the state.
December 12, 2024, 1-1:30 PM ET
Hosts: UConn CLEAR
Speakers: Sarah Hurley, CT GIS Office
This 30-minute webinar introduces a housing mapping and data application that the GIS Office (within CT OPM) has created in partnership with the CT Department of Housing (DOHG) and the CT Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) for use by governments, non-profits, planners, and interested stakeholders.Called the CT Housing Data Hub, this site uses a variety of maps and charts to show the current state of housing, housing programs, rent burden, and permitting across the 169 towns of CT. This resource allows users to understand housing trends over almost 20 years of time and get information about their local municipalities with linked maps, data, and charts. Please join us to learn more about this useful resource.
October 24, 2024, 1-1:30 PM ET
Hosts: UConn CLEAR
Speakers: Ashley Benitez, GIS Coordinator, and Leah Hodges, GIS Analyst, CT GIS Office