The rapid development of informatics resources and tools, and in particular the availability of powerful and user-friendly geospatial information system (GIS) platforms that permit easy data manipulation and visualization, present a range of opportunities for developing research-intensive classroom experiences. These informatics "portals" provide data in formats compatible with popular visualization and data management platforms (ArcGIS, Google Earth), and many also provide their own suite of visualization tools to facilitate data manipulation and first-order interpretation. New NSF requirements for Data Management have led to the expansion of existing cyberinfrastructure platforms and facilities, and the recent development of new facilities. These geoinformatics resources can be extremely valuable tools in training students to work with data, and many of these are fertile resources for undergraduate research projects as well.