University Consortium for
Geographic Information Science
www.ucgis.org

In this  issue

From the Desk of the President

Since our Summer Assembly in July 2005 in the gorgeous Jackson Hole, Wyoming, many events have occurred, which have significantly affected our organization. The unprecedented Katrina disaster in the Gulf Coast region, which has directly impacted where I am, has once again reminded us how vulnerable we are and called attention to the need of geospatial science and technology for better disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. It is good to know that the entire GIS community in the region and around the nation has given help throughout the crisis; their quick response and their professionalism have contributed in various ways, ranging from producing useful maps quickly for the emergency rescue operations to providing job opportunities for displaced GIS professionals.

UCGIS has responded to this catastrophic event in three ways. Thanks to the input from our members and the quick and hard work of the Communication Committee, Jack Sanders, and our webmaster, Richard Campbell, we were able to establish a website within two weeks to link the GIS resources related to Katrina. The website contains information submitted by our members such as links to maps, imagery, software applications, and GIS jobs. We are especially grateful to Richard for donating his time for building the website. It is good to report that right after we announced the establishment of the website, we received tremendous positive responses immediately from the broad community. We hope our effort in this has helped in some ways.

Our emphasis in the 2006 Winter Assembly in Washington, DC also changed from a broader “GIS and Society” theme to a theme responding to this important event: “Geospatial information science and technology: an integrating force in disaster preparedness, mitigation, and recovery”. We are grateful to Senator Barack Obama and Representative Danny Davis for co-sponsoring our congressional presentations, and thanks to the perseverance and hard work of the Policy and Legislative Committee for making this happen. As in previous years, in addition to the congressional presentations by selected members, we organized an agency panel in which federal representatives discuss their recent activities and funding opportunities, and we created a time slot for congressional visits. New in this year were the visits to two agencies, FEMA and USGS. Through these visits, we hope to learn more about their GIS related activities and develop ideas for future collaboration.

We have recently launched an initiative to secure federal funding to develop a network of regional, university-based centers called GEOID (GEOspatial Information Decision support) to provide geospatial information resources for better decision-making in disaster mitigation preparedness, response, and recovery. UCGIS could facilitate such development. The GEOID centers will integrate GIS research and education and will have direct benefits to science and society. A white paper documenting the rationale and the major activities for the GEOID centers has been prepared, and an ad hoc committee has been established to find ways to move this initiative forward.

Responding to unexpected events and finding the opportunity for UCGIS and our community to contribute, however, is only one segment of our activities. Indeed, we have made significant progress for the existing important tasks. A draft of Geographic Information Science and Technology Body of Knowledge, a community effort led by the Education Committee, has recently been completed. The visualization workshop proposal led by May Yuan and Karen Hornsby will soon be funded by NSA (National Security Agency). The USGS sponsored post-doctoral fellowship has been finalized and a call for applications has already been sent out. The SPACE grant is in its third year, and Tarek Rashed and his team at the University of Oklahoma will take the lead. Specifications on internships have also been drafted. A website to encourage donations into an endowment for supporting the annual graduate student paper competition has been established. Significant progress has also been made regarding the Summer Assembly to be held in late June.

Externally, UCGIS has continued to participate in various related organizations. We have representatives or liaisons in FGDC, GSDI, AGILE, USGIF, CaGIS, and Auto-Carto. After a long discussion, we finally completed an agreement with GISCI (GIS Certification Institute), with two UCGIS representatives, David DiBiase and Francis Harvey, newly appointed to their board. These collaborations will continue to play an important part and increase our effectiveness in achieving our missions and goals that will benefit the broader GIS community.

UCGIS was formally established in 1996, and we are progressing to the next decade. We have definitely made significant progress as an organization that promotes research and education in GIS. But what do we want to be in another 10 years? It is time for us to think of this question and make plans towards the common goal. I quote the same old saying that I used in my statement for election two years ago: “It is difficult to build an empire, but it is even more difficult to maintain it”. One of my goals as President is to increase funding opportunities for GIScience research and education and to support UCGIS to further its service to its members. We have made some small, albeit important steps; hopefully, like science, these incremental steps will eventually be accumulated and solidified into tangible results. But one thing is clear; UCGIS will not progress without our members’ enthusiasm, participation, and continued support.

This is my second and last report as President. I thank you all for the privilege and opportunity to have worked with you during this past year.

Nina Lam

next page