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From the President’s Desk
My attention lately has been focused on the upcoming summer meeting in Asilomar, California. John Wilson, Research Committee Chair, has developed an excellent program featuring several speakers and workshops on exciting GIScience topics. Lyna Wiggins, Education Committee Chair, has equally as well developed an excellent program for the education side, focusing on updating the education initiatives, a discussion and update of the model curricula, and a session on ethics in GIS. I plan to have our Board think strategically about several issues that UCGIS will need to consider over the next several years: developing an overall strategic plan for UCGIS; a schedule of our future meetings, particularly in relation to GIScience 200x meetings; strategies for continuing our membership growth; the issue of accreditation for GIS professionals; how best to develop and handle research opportunities for our member institutions; and developing involvement with international GIS societies. I look forward to your ideas, either in person or by email. And I hope to see, meet and personally talk with you while in Asilomar. Carolyn New Board Elections and Appointments Elections held at the February Council meeting resulted in several new Board members. Lynn Usery, usery@arches.uga.edu, University of Georgia, was chosen as UCGIS President-Elect. Three new Board members were elected:
Lynn’s election opened a seat on the Board of Directors. The Board appointed Shashi Shekhar, shekhar@cs.umn.edu, University of Minnesota, to the position. The Board also welcomes two new officers:
Nina Lam, nlam@lsu.edu, Louisiana State University, has been appointed as Research Projects Chair. And, Mary Lou Larson, mlarson@uwyo.edu, University of Wyoming, joins the UCGIS leadership as Membership Chair. The Board thanked outgoing officers, board members, and committee chairs for their continued support. Leaving the Board were Past-President Harlan Onsrud (University of Maine), Robert McMaster (University of Minnesota), Harvey Miller (University of Utah), and Marc Armstrong (University of Iowa). David Mark resigned as Membership Chair, but remains on the committee as Co-Chair. Max Egenhofer stepped down from his marathon stint as Research Projects Chair. They will all be missed. by Will Craig
UCGIS showcased geographic information science research projects that received federal funding and have a direct link to local or state agencies. The Pennsylvania State University research team is funded by the National Cancer Institute to develop, implement, assess, and disseminate the next generation of geospatial analysis methods and tools to support cancer-related public health research and policy. They are working with the Appalachia Cancer Network to ensure that the methods and tools developed are both accessible and useable by the cancer researchers and analysts. The University of Delaware team is funded through the U.S. Geological Survey and the Federal Geographic Data Committee NSDI Cooperative Agreements Program (CAP). The DataMIL project brings together local, state and federal agencies by creating a “geography network” of the State of Delaware. The National Consortium on Remote Sensing in Transportation, a consortium funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, funds the University of Utah’s research on urban transportation network disruption. The research on vulnerability will provide analysts with the ability to design better protection and recovery strategies for vulnerable transportation networks. The University of Wyoming research team has developed a prototype GIS/DSS tool, CARAT, for use in BLM offices. Funding for this research is through the Wyoming State Office of the Bureau of Land Management. CARAT is designed to improve the permit request process, and allow BLM staff to consider a large variety of factors when evaluating a request. The potential for a disastrous urban earthquake is real in many parts of the United States. The objective of the San Diego State University research, funded by the National Science Foundation, is to integrate remote sensing and GIS analysis into urban vulnerability studies. This study tests the importance of using remote sensing data at the local level. The Soil Land Inference Model (SoLIM) designed by the University of Wisconsin — Madison research team is funded by the University of Wisconsin — Madison, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the State of Wisconsin. The team's goal is to improve the efficiency and accuracy of soil survey methods. Case studies in Wisconsin have shown the SoLIM approach is about 10 times faster than conventional approaches, and 20-30% more accurate. Afternoon presentations were made by representatives of those federal agencies that had funded the research projects presented in the morning session. Each spoke about their appreciation for academic research and described future funding opportunities. Three additional agencies spoke about their funding opportunities: National Institute of Health, National Institute of Justice, and the Advanced Research and Development Activity. |
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Thanks to all of you for electing me as President of UCGIS. I follow in the footsteps of a legacy of strong
leaders – so I have some big boots to fill. I have a feeling it’s going
to be a good year for UCGIS. I started my tenure right after a
successful, well-attended Congressional Breakfast in February that
featured several of our member institutions. I urge you to get involved
in next year’s Congressional event – it’s a great way and a good excuse
to talk to your Congressional delegation about your university research
program. 
UCGIS held a very successful Winter
2003 meeting in Washington, DC, on February 12 at the Capitol Hill Club.
The first part of this meeting was a presentation to members of Congress
and their staff of six outstanding academic research projects from
member institutions. Each was chosen because it made a significant
contribution to meeting national needs. Competition for those slots was
strong and many good proposals were set aside in the interest of
providing a balance of topics and agency funding. Each presenter was
introduced by his Member of Congress or a staff assistant. Over 100
people were in the audience for the morning Congressional presentations.
For information on the program and speakers, see