Mike Winiski

Director of Applied Research, Shi Institute for Sustainable Communities, Furman University

Mike Winiski directs the applied research team at Furman University's Shi Institute for Sustainable Communities. The team focuses on collaborating with community stakeholders to use data to make informed decisions and take action to make communities more sustainable and resilient. Mike has expertise in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), data analysis, developing understandable, interactive data visualizations for decision-making, and web development. He has led projects in both the private and academic sector and has organized and led stakeholder focus and workgroups across the Upstate and in the Low Country. A teacher at heart, Mike has taught a variety of courses at Furman University, including GIS, and high school science. He has been an invited speaker at community events and academic and planning conferences. He and the team have partnered with a variety of constituents to address development pressure on SC farms and historic neighborhoods, public transportation access, future land use projections for the Upstate, and the development of interactive dashboards and applications that allow users to explore data for more informed decision-making. Mike holds masters degrees in GIS (Penn State University) and science education (Wake Forest University).