Spatial Analytics with Python 🌎
October 27, 2026 · 6:30 PM
CUNY Graduate Center, 365 5th Ave, New York
Brendan Collins introduces Xarray-Spatial for Python geospatial analysis, covering terrain, hydrology, CPU/GPU acceleration, and AI-augmented open-source development, with attendees invited to bring laptops and follow along.
Bring a laptop to follow along as Xarray-Spatial creator Brendan Collins demonstrates Python raster analysis and CPU/GPU computing; registration requires your official government-issued name.
Join us on **October 27th at 6:30 PM** for an evening exploring **geospatial data science with Python**, featuring Brendan Collins, Founder & CTO at Makepath and creator of Xarray-Spatial! Discover how Python can transform spatial data into powerful insights, from terrain analysis and hydrology to scalable CPU- and GPU-accelerated computing. Please bring your 💻 to follow along and sign up using your official government-issued name. 🍕 Pizza & drinks will be provided - Thank you Makepath! ## Agenda ### 🌎 xarray-spatial: In and Out of the Raster-verse **Speaker: Brendan Collins (Founder & CTO at Makepath)** Spatial data comes in many shapes and sizes, but some of the most powerful spatial analysis techniques begin by viewing the world as a grid. Led by the library's creator and maintainer, this talk introduces [Xarray-Spatial](https://github.com/xarray-contrib/xarray-spatial), an open-source Python library for scalable raster analysis with CPU and GPU acceleration. We'll learn how to **enter the Raster-verse** by bringing spatial data into Xarray, **explore the Raster-verse** using algorithms for terrain analysis, hydrology, proximity, and more, and **escape the Raster-verse** through techniques like zonal statistics and polygonization. Finally, we'll discuss **contributing to the Raster-verse**, sharing lessons from maintaining Xarray-Spatial and how AI-augmented development is transforming open-source contributions, code quality, and scientific software engineering.