University Consortium for
Geographic Information Science
www.ucgis.org

In this issue

UCGIS 2006 Winter Meeting

Report on the Winter Meeting: Washington, DC 8-10 February, 2006

In February, as Congress and the Executive branch began consideration of the national budget, UCGIS met to discuss and publicize the importance of geographic information science as a foundation for a wide array of essential government activities. This year’s Congressional Presentations were sponsored by Senator Barack Obama (IL) and Representative Danny K. Davis (IL) in the splendid surroundings of the Members Room in the original 1897 building of the Library of Congress. The 2006 Winter meeting provided an opportunity for the UCGIS community to describe current GIS research projects to agencies, as well as members of Congress and their professional staff. At a time still dominated by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the theme “Geospatial Information Science and Technology: An Integrating Force in Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation, and Recovery” emphasized the central role of geographic information in our national response to natural disaster, and emphasized the need for GIS in Homeland Security of all types. Outgoing UCGIS President, Nina Lam, from Louisiana State University welcomed Congressional staffers and delegates with opening remarks, reflecting on the vital role that her university had taken in gathering, organizing and disseminating digital spatial data following Katrina.

The presentations illustrated the breadth and depth of the contributions of GI systems and science. The importance of accurate, updated information and sophisticated means to in corporate it into decision support systems were stressed by Alan M. MacEachren, Pennsylvania State University who spoke on “Developing Tools for Mitigation and Response Anticipating and Responding to Unexpected Events: Supporting Real-World Geo-Information Exploration.” Chris S. Renschler, University at Buffalo (SUNY) presented “Integrated Research and Implementation in GIScience and Extreme Events.” Mark W. Horner of Florida State University, spoke on “GIS-based Decision Support for Hurricane Disaster Relief,” and Thomas J. Cova, University of Utah, reported on “Setting Wildfire Evacuation Trigger-Points using GIS.” A summary by John Wilson, UCGIS President-elect, University of Southern California concluded the presentation.

Briefings by leading officials in federal agencies supporting research and other GIS projects followed lunch in the Madison Building of the Library, providing an exceptional opportunity for UCGIS delegates and colleagues to hear about new developments at NSF, USGS, NASA, NSA, and NGA. Among the agency representatives were Tom Baerwald, Senior Science Advisor, Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences Division, NSF, Barbara Ryan, Associate Director for Geography, USGS, and Greg Smith, Chief Scientist and Scott Loomer, Science Advisor for Geospatial Science National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, all of whom spoke of research initiatives and opportunities for university engagement. UCGIS delegates then dispersed for site visits to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Geological Survey and the Library of Congress: Geography & Map Division.

On the morning of February 10th delegates visited Congressional offices to further disseminate the value of GIScience research and education. Hope for an increased recognition of the national importance of GIS was spurred by news that the just-released Presidential budget included a ‘Line of Business’ for geospatial information for the first time. At the UCGIS Education Committee meeting later that afternoon, considerable excitement surrounded the announcement of summer publication plans for “The Geographic Information Science & Technology (GI S&T) Body of Knowledge 2006,” an effort by the GIScience community to define the subject matter of our discipline. The invaluable work of David DeBiase and his team was acknowledged. The Research, Policy & Legislation, Research Projects, Membership, Communications and Sponsored Programs’ committees also met on Friday afternoon, prior to the semi annual Council meeting. In Council, Sean Ahearn, Professor of Geography at Hunter College, City University of New York was elected president-elect. Robert McMaster, University of Minnesota, and Mary Lou Larson, University of Wyoming were elected to the board. Much appreciation is due to the outgoing board members Mei-Po Kwan, Ohio State University and Sean Ahearn, Hunter College, City University of New York; Membership Committee chair Mary Lou Larson, University of Wyoming; and President Nina Lam; and especially to John Shuler, University of Illinois at Chicago, for his efforts in organizing and coordinating the Congressional event in 2006.

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