GIS offers a means to characterize many aspects of river channels prior to going into the field. This is a project I assign students in my GIS courses in order to familiarize them with semi-quantitative "metrics" of channels. Check out my other website for many how-to lessons targeted at researchers working in GIS and the Geosciences: www.GIS4Geomorphology.com. OVERVIEW Students utilize Google Earth, Excel, and Illustrator to “stack” various bits of information that character