About Us

GIS For Biologists was established in 2016 as a spin-off from the training and consultancy business GIS In Ecology and the book GIS For Biologists A Practical Introduction For Undergraduates by Dr Colin D. MacLeod. Its aim is to provide relatively cheap, easy-to-access, high quality training for biologists who wish to learn how to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in their research. It is an online counterpart to the popular in-person courses run by GIS In Ecology, and it provides a way to access the training provided by courses at a substantially reduced cost, and with no associated travel or accommodation costs, making them much more widely accessible. 

GIS For Biologists is run by Dr Colin D. MacLeod, the founder of GIS In Ecology. He has twenty years experience working in spatial ecology, and is the author of a range of books on the use of GIS in biological research. He feels that almost all biological research projects would benefit from the use of GIS, and he recognises that the main limitation to the wider use of GIS in biology is a lack of high quality training specifically tailored to the needs of biologists. Through GIS In Ecology, he regularly runs in-person courses for biologists as well as teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Glasgow, and with the creation of GIS For Biologists, he aims to bring his high quality biological GIS training to a wider audience.

The exercises provided on this website are primarily designed to be used by individuals. If you would like to discuss the use of our teaching materials for multiple individuals in your organisation, as part of your own training provision, or for teaching purposes at a further education institution, please contact us using the contact form which you can find here. Depending on the specific requirements, we may be able to provide substantial discounts on the per individual price for multiple users from the same organisation.