The distribution of a species may be influenced by an array of factors. The combination of these factors results in the ecological niche, the set of conditions that allow a species to exist in a geographic area. However, defining these conditions is difficult, due to the complexity of natural systems. One approach to characterizing the ecological niche uses spatial data GIS software. The objectives of this tutorial are to teach participants the concepts of ecological niche modeling, introduce them to select analytical techniques (formatting data in GIS; running Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) models), and present how to interpret and apply spatial analyses. Participants will further be familiarized with several commonly-used and/or newly-available online spatial data resources. Participants will be provided datasets to use in hands-on simulations, but can also bring their own data if desired. This tutorial is intended for advanced graduate students, postdocs, and faculty who are interested in learning how to incorporate ecological niche modeling into their research. Some basic knowledge of GIS software and ecology is preferred. Little to no programming will be involved, with ecological niche modeling and spatial analysis conducted using existing applications (MaxEnt) and packages in QGIS and R.