Latest Contributions by LisaBerry

We are excited for you to join us at this year’s 2026 Esri User Conference, July 13-17 in San Diego, California. As you plan your attendance for the mappiest week of the year either in person or virtually, check out the following resources to find all things ArcGIS Living Atlas and Ready-to-Use Content: Learn how to find all things Living Atlas: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/arcgis-living-atlas/announcements/find-arcgis-living-atlas-at-esri-uc-2026 Find all Living Atlas sessions: https://esriurl.com/LivingAtlasUC2026 ... View more

We are pleased to announce that a new collection of selected demographic variables from WorldPop.org’s Global2 release is now available in the Living Atlas of the World. We have derived a collection of commonly used demographic variables from WorldPop’s 1-km resolution data for the years 2015, 2020, 2025, and 2030. Please see our announcement for more information. ... View more

Did you know that ArcGIS Living Atlas contains multiple layers on languages spoken in the United States? With so many options, it can be confusing to know which layers, or which attributes, are most suited for your specific purpose. Check out this short blog by Diana Lavery describing how to choose the right layer for your needs. ... View more

A Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) is a geographic area, population group, or health care facility that has been designated by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as having a shortage of health professionals.  These widely-used boundaries are now available at your fingertips within both ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Pro. Just search “HPSA” or “Health Provider Shortage Area” in Living Atlas. You can access the three categories – Primary Care, Dental Health, and Mental Health – as three different feature layers. Learn more by reading this blog. ... View more

Exposure to extreme heat and its impact on human health is becoming a more frequent concern for many communities and industries. We need reliable data to make robust recommendations and policies around heat stress. But temperature alone doesn’t always give us the full picture. To help make more comprehensive heat stress data more readily available, a new Global Wet Bulb Globe Temperature Baseline layer has been added to ArcGIS Living Atlas providing information about wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), which gives us a better understanding of the human impact of high temperatures.  To learn more, visit this blog. ... View more

With the introduction of calendar heat charts in ArcGIS Online Map Viewer, it’s now easier than ever to uncover temporal patterns hidden within large datasets. This short tutorial explores how to use calendar heat charts to analyze fatal vehicle crashes across the United States using the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and provided by Esri in ArcGIS Living Atlas. To read the full article, visit this blog by Steven Aviles. ... View more

A collection of six new Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) products is now available in the ArcGIS Living Atlas. These 30-meter resolution layers, from the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) consortium, offer a consistent, yearly snapshot of land cover use and change for the lower-48 states from 1985 to 2024: USA Annual NLCD – Land Cover USA Annual NLCD – Land Cover Change USA Annual NLCD – Land Cover Confidence USA Annual NLCD – Date Spectral Change USA Annual NLCD – Fractional Impervious Surface USA Annual NLCD – Impervious Descriptor For full details about the new layers, visit this blog by the Living Atlas Environment Team.  ... View more

USA Cloud Cover Days is now available in the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, makes it easier than ever to integrate cloud cover information into your GIS workflows. This new imagery layer, derived from NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), provides the average number of days per year with cloud cover for the contiguous United States (CONUS) and portions of Mexico and Canada. With a 500-meter cell size, this data offers the spatial detail necessary for regional analyses in diverse environments. To learn more about this layer, visit this full article by Raf Antwerpen ... View more

Global Fishing Watch, an international nonprofit organization advancing ocean governance through transparency of human activity at sea, recently undertook a project increasing the level of ocean understanding for GIS users everywhere.  We’re excited to share that new Global Fishing Watch layers are now available in ArcGIS Online and in the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World. This marks a significant milestone for the GIS community, providing direct access to powerful datasets designed to inform, inspire, and support efforts to protect our oceans. To learn more about the layers and how to access them, visit this blog by @KeithVanGraafeiland.  ... View more

While the 2026 Winter Olympics are called Milano-Cortina, many of the events occur in the Alps just north of Milan. This quick 3D tour showcases the new Google Photorealistic Basemap (Beta Release Feb 2026), ArcGIS Online Scene Viewer, and various layers from ArcGIS Living Atlas like slope and snowpack. ... View more

New American Community Survey layers are now available which contain the latest 2020-2024 5-year estimates from U.S. Census Bureau. New topics provided this year are occupants per room (crowded housing), and new attributes within specific Asian groups. For more information about transitioning from the older version of these layers and to learn more, visit the full blog by @DianaLavery1 here.    ... View more

Hi! My name is Lisa Berry and I am a Principal GIS Engineer and Evangelist on the ArcGIS Living Atlas team at Esri. I specialize in all things Living Atlas, ArcGIS Online, Instant Apps, Python, ArcGIS Arcade, and cartography. I have an ArcGIS Blogs page if you ever want to learn more about these topics: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/author/lisa_berry I help manage the Living Atlas space within Esri Community, so please feel free to drop your questions and suggestions so that I can help guide you to a Living Atlas expert. Also check out the blogs within the Living Atlas space to stay up-to-date on the latest Living Atlas content! ... View more

Humans are fundamentally social creatures. Our reliance on social interaction is deeply rooted in aspects like sharing resources and building communities for the sake of health and cognitive growth. Not surprisingly, these same fundamental concepts exist in the modern-day workplace because it is advantageous to build on each other’s strengths, and work with a symbiotic approach for us to all be successful alongside each other. This is a strong reason why working with others through mentorship can not only enhance our career growth but also allow us to build a strong network and expand our skill sets. My name is Lisa Berry, and I am a Principal GIS Engineer and Evangelist for the ArcGIS Living Atlas team at Esri. In this blog I will share with you 5 tips on how to approach mentorship within your GIS career so that you can boost your interpersonal network. Career and Mentorship   As soon as I found GIS during a random college course, I knew I wanted to dive into mapping and analytics with all of my energy, but I didn’t know where to start or where to go next. But thanks to the mentors I found along the way, I have been able to navigate an every-growing industry of technology and changes and found my place within it, described in the graphic below: I have now been at Esri for 12 years, and huge part of my personal and career growth has been a direct result of the mentorship I’ve received over the years. Without the advice, knowledge, and insight that others have brought to me, I wouldn’t have known how to approach the changes and obstacles I’ve faced over the years. I have been grateful to have found successful, inspiring GIS professionals who have shared their wisdom with me over the years. In my early career, I was only seeking mentorship, but over the years I have also begun to mentor others using the things I have learned. HOWEVER, I will always continue to seek out my existing mentors and find new mentors, because life is unpredictable and always brings new challenges. Just because I now mentor others, doesn’t mean that I suddenly know everything. The technology within the field of GIS is always changing/growing, so we as GIS professionals often need to do the same to keep up. This is yet another reason mentorship is so critical. Anywhere along your career path or schooling, you can run into challenges, big or small. A few examples of some of my own challenges that you might relate to: How can I find a job? I need help with a difficult situation/person I don’t know how to achieve a goal I have, or how to acquire the skills I need   Explore the 5 Tips   To help you as you consider your own place within the mentorship cycle, I offer these 5 tips for navigating your journey: Let’s dive into these a bit. Explore each tip and some extra thoughts for approaching each one: 1. Find the right mentor(s) Don’t be afraid to ask! People are usually honored when asked to mentor, but be aware that sometimes people might just be too busy. Cast a wide net when looking for mentors        Connect with people inside of your immediate circle like your teachers, teammates, manager, or fellow students.         Connect with people outside of your team. Even if their path is different than yours, you can still learn new skills or perspectives. Ask potential mentors what motivates them. Find someone with your shared level of passion. Be clear about expectations/commitment (are you looking for a lot of their time or just casual monthly meetups to chat and talk about career path and ask advice?) Find multiple mentors 2. Create consistency Set up regular meetups/chats to stay on the same page Show initiative by following up and thanking them for their time Touch base often – don’t go a year without reaching out Conversations don’t have to be formal every time. Sometimes a casual chat over coffee can go a long way to build a relationship Show up to your conversations with at least one question about career path or advice you’re looking for Be respectful of their time. People are busy! Don’t bombard someone with constant messages or expect immediate responses. 3. Establish interdependence Ask questions:        Have you faced a similar situation?         What was your personal experience?         Can you share any advice on XYZ topic? While communicating your situation and goals is important, make sure to spend a majority of the time listening. Evaluate how their advice or experience can help you with your path Build trust through shared vulnerability. Share what you’re comfortable sharing, but provide enough context for them to help truly understand where you’re coming from. Learn and grow from critique. Don’t take criticism personally, but as a chance to grow from the advice. It is coming from a place of experience, not an attack. 4. Build your network Find people with related skills outside of your expertise and offer to help others on projects. And don’t be afraid to ask them for help in the future. When working with mentors (or anyone!), build rapport. Do so by meeting deadlines, showing up with a positive attitude, and  do good work that speaks for itself. Say yes! Join projects and initiatives that are outside of your comfort zone but teach you new skills. You will meet new people that may be critical to your career path down the line. Expand your influence. Participate on LinkedIn, publish articles or blogs, try giving presentations about your subject matter, keep your resume up to date, and join communities that resonate with you. 5. Become a mentor! The best way to learn, is to teach! Once you find yourself being asked questions by someone, ask if you can help them in any other ways. This can be a great way to start a mentorship. Use your own experiences but learn how to listen. Identify what they need in their situation and align this with what you’ve learned without making the conversation about yourself. As Esri’s CEO Jack Dangermond suggests: “be interested, not interesting” Note: bonus tip # 6 – repeat the process! Think of this as a cyclical process, since we are always gaining new skills, meeting new people with different experiences, and changing our daily lives. Part of the fun is that just because you become a mentor doesn’t mean you stop learning! To help us wrap up, this graphic helps summarize the entire process a cycle: Final Thoughts   To summarize, remember that your network is your strength. Your image is self-created, self-established, and self-built. Every project, every interaction (no matter how big or small) could make the difference between stalled progress and a jumpstart to your career. And ultimately, never stop learning and looking for mentorship.    Use Your Resources There are many ways to find mentors and build your network! Check out these resources to kickstart your journey today: Join your local YPN chapter Find your local user group Attend GIS events Get involved on LinkedIn Keep up with the latest updates in ArcGIS Get hands on experience - Learn ArcGIS Plan for lifelong learning - Esri Academy ... View more

Oil spills from ships, tanker accidents, and offshore platforms have been a global concern for marine ecosystems, coastal communities, and fisheries. Early identification of oil spills is essential for guiding effective response efforts, minimizing environmental damage, and reducing economic losses. This tutorial helps step you through how to use ready-to-use ArcGIS Living Atlas Sentinel-1 imagery to detect and map oil spills. Read the blog by @SamiraDaneshgar here.  ... View more

Do you have a layer that’s rich with attribute information, but you are conflicted about which one to display, or maybe you want to show two of them together? If you are in this situation, a bivariate map may be the answer for you. Check out this quick blog by @EmilyMeriam1 and @AndrewSkinner to learn more about how these maps can be built using ArcGIS Living Atlas in ArcGIS Pro. ... View more