IT collaborates in first-ever UD Geospatial Research Day
On Thursday, November 19, over 200 students,
faculty, staff, and professionals
participated in the first-ever UD Geospatial
Research Day. GRD drew attention to
UD’s excellence in the growing
Geospatial field. IT was among 11 units
contributing financial sponsorship and staff
time to the event.
Geospatial Research is nearly synonymous with
the use of Geographic Information Systems
(GIS). IT supports a range of GIS software
including ArcGIS, ENVI, IMAGINE, and
others. The Department of Labor has
highlighted Geospatial Technology as an
Emerging Industry, seeing heavy job growth in
fields from transportation to medicine.
GRD included talks and posters in a variety
of formats on often disparate themes.
Presenters represented 5 of UD’s 7
colleges, including Agriculture and Natural
Resources; Arts and Sciences; Earth, Ocean,
and Environment; Education and Public Policy;
and Engineering.
Ben Mearns, GIS specialist, and Dick Sacher,
Associate Director, both in IT Research &
Data Management Services, contributed heavily
to organizing the event. RDMS was
particularly involved in setting up the
technology infrastructure for the event,
including an innovative Drupal Web
site and video conferencing for the
keynote speaker. John Callahan, formerly of
RDMS and now at the Delaware Geological
Survey, was also a key coordinator. The
longstanding GIS@UD community, in which IT
participates as an element of GIS support,
provided the social backbone and the
remainder of the planning efforts for the
event.
In addition, Mearns delivered two
presentations on Geospatial Research
topics. Copies will be made available
for these and most other presentations on the
GRD Web site in the near future.
A
comprehensive article on Geospatial
Research Day appeared in UDaily.
