Meet the Expert

Mark Stewart is a senior instructor with Esri Training Services based in San Antonio, Texas. After a childhood encounter with an encyclopedia atlas, Mark developed a love of maps and a passion for geographic thinking that has shaped his education and career journeys. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in history and a Master’s degree in Environmental Science from the University of North Texas, and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tunisia, where he worked with local beekeepers to increase their honey yields. Mark’s career in the GIS industry spans almost 30 years, with most of that time spent at Esri. In addition to his teaching role, Mark has developed courses and leveraged the power of ArcGIS to cultivate the next generation of spatial thinkers and doers.

I am surprised at how much I learned just within that short amount of time!  I can't even go a day now without pointing out or noticing something or someone using spatial analysis!  This course definitely worked for me.

— Maegan S., Louisiana

This course was a great refresher and learning tool for GIS fundamentals. I would definitely recommend this course to anyone who wants to get a basic understanding of GIS and its functions.

— Bryan E., Hawaii

I was very excited to see the analysis tools that you can use on ArcGIS Online. This could be a game changer for the way we communicate with residents in our city.

— Amy S., Wisconsin

I really enjoyed that the course challenged you to do things on your own, yet you could scroll and follow along if you needed to. I liked learning about all the different scenarios that could use GIS. There were way more than I was initially taught.

— Stephanie G., Canada

I enjoyed using the analysis tools with actual data. This has a way of making the analysis more relevant.

— Susan G., Texas

The exercises were a great way to get used to the interface. I've done a fair amount of work in ArcGIS and it was fun to figure out the online versions of analyses I have used in the past.

— Lianne M., Canada

I really enjoy spatial analysis and I have used it in the past. It was nice to explore more of it. Story maps was really fun and I enjoyed the cougar exercise. Thank you!

— Jonah S., Rhode Island

I mostly signed up to refresh on spatial analysis concepts but was incredibly delighted to become much more familiar and comfortable using ArcGIS Online through the exercises. To me that was the best and most impactful part; I am much more comfortable using ArcGIS Online. 

— Kimberley S., British Columbia

I was able to understand all the processes I was doing and why I was doing them because of the background given on the introduction of each exercise and during the sections. It helped understand the usefulness of my work as every action was backed with a real problem and request from a fictitious client that could be very real in the future. 

— Diego V., Panama

The simplicity but also level of detail in the exercises makes them very fun but informative. 

— Adam C., Deleware

It was very fluid, I was able to understand the labs and move through them without confusion. 

— Stehanie P., California

Good introductory videos. Well outlined exercises with good, real-world examples. The exercises had easy to follow instructions that also explained the concepts.

— Tim L.

I really enjoyed the myriad of topics that were deployed to create real world scenarios involving the learning concepts.

— Jack D.

I appreciated the opportunity to follow the course and carry out the exercises independently, being able to choose times and repeat them if necessary.

— Antonella Z.

This course gave a concise overview of how to use a GIS and an introduction to spatial analysis which is very helpful for beginners. The content of the videos and exercises was excellent.

— Bianca C.

[I most enjoyed] learning how to incorporate ArcGIS into my daily job, and I developed a better understanding of all additional components of maps and data.

— Jenna O.

All the course components were well planned. Notes for exercises were easy to follow and understand, lecture contents were interesting and well structured.

— Shereen P.

I appreciated the detailed, step-by-step instructions in the exercises. They were helpful in staying on track without having to troubleshoot too much.

— Arthur M.

I've been in the GIS field for over 11 years. Even though my day-to-day work doesn't do much (if any) analysis, I'm so pleased that I was able to learn a bit more about ArcGIS for spatial analysis. Thank you Esri for making this MOOC available. It was just about the right amount of new information.

— Shauna-Rae B.

[I most enjoyed] how interactive the course was and especially the exercises made me feel great about being an analyst, even though I am just starting out. Very beginner friendly! 

— Kowsar A.

I thought the lessons were set-up in a creative way that allowed us to get a feel for a "real world" application of the concepts.

— Bruce K.

I enjoyed the fact that the course would provide exercises with instruction and then had an extra exercise at the end for me to experiment on my own and see if I am able to retain the knowledge that I learned. 

— Sophia K.

I liked that we could do it on our own pace. I joined the class 3 weeks late, maybe a day before registration closed. Still, I was able to complete it on time.

— Alaekya S.

I enjoyed that all the exercises considered real-world problems and posed scenarios realistically.

— Elizaveta G.

I enjoyed the variety of tasks each week. It make it feel like an engaging and well rounded course. 

— Story L.

The course was well designed for a beginner and the tasks were easy to follow along. 

— Vivek G.