Although the importance of Geographic Information Systems (GISs) in natural resource management has been widely acknowledged, the potential of GIS as an ecological research tool has just begun to be explored. The establishment of a major GIS facility at the University of Minnesota's Natural Resources Research Institute in Duluth has facilitated multi-investigator, interagency research on the application of GIS to ecological research. The facility operates both raster- and vector-based GISs for a variety of research purposes. Researchers have used GIS technology to solve ecological problems at spatially complex landscape, regional, and global scales.