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| The U.S. Portion of a Top Three GISCI Contest Map |
Applied Geography Conference: The conference, October 23 - 25 in Charlotte, North Carolina, has two student competitions: the "regular" AGC 2019 Student Paper & Poster Competitions (submissions due June 14) and a new Esri & AGC Student Competition using story maps (submissions due June 1).
URISA: GIS-Pro 2019 Student and Young Professional Opportunities Announced - "In addition to meet-ups and networking events during GIS-Pro 2019 in New Orleans this Fall, URISA's Vanguard Cabinet of Young Professionals has teamed up with leaders in the education community to organize a valuable program track titled 'Inspiring the Future of GIS' which kicks off with a full-day 'Preparing for GISP Certification' workshop. Further, the VC is sponsoring a University Student and Young Professional Digital Competition, a Student Volunteer Program, and a K-12 Poster Showcase."
St. Louis
SLU: Former NGA Director Named Distinguished Geospatial Fellow at Saint Louis University - "Saint Louis University has announced that Robert Cardillo, former director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), has been named a Distinguished Geospatial Fellow in the Saint Louis University Research Institute. ...In his new role at SLU, Cardillo will support an ongoing strategy for geospatial growth in St. Louis; enhance the first-class education of SLU students; and facilitate collaborations between the University, local innovators, industry leaders and the NGA. Cardillo also will provide guidance to GeoSLU, SLU’s geospatial research, training, and innovation initiative."
SLPR: St. Louis To Host Major Geospatial Conference In 2023 And 2025 - That'd be the USGIF's GEOINT Symposium.
SLPR: High School Students To Get Instruction In A Hot Field — Geospatial Training - "[Volunteer-based] GatewayGIS will tutor K-12 students in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. Geospatial technology focuses on the science behind location-based services and mapping." USGIF will roll out the program in the next five years with a focus on serving students from low-income communities.
Resources for Teaching and Learning
The Lancet: Geospatial, racial, and educational variation in firearm mortality in the USA, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia, 1990–2015: a comparative analysis of vital statistics data - The open access article includes small multiples and analysis.
The Mirror: Millions of millennials have NEVER used a paper map, research finds - "The study, commissioned by Ordnance Survey, in line with National Map Reading Week, also found only 18 per cent of millennials feel ‘very confident’ using a paper map, compared to 44 per cent of the over 38s."
Financial Times: Geographers need to be mathematicians too - Steve Brace, Head of Education, Royal Geographical Society makes the argument in a letter in response to a discussion of women and math.
U of T: Managing Digital Distractions - Don Boyes discusses how he raises the topic with his face to face students in this video from U of T Ed Tech & ACT Support.
The Journal of Open Source Education: A course on Geographic Data Science - "This paper presents a computational learning module on Geographic Data Science (GDS). This resource is part of a larger set that also includes a series of lecture slides, that has been used for four consecutive academic years to teach the course 'Geographic Data Science' at the University of Liverpool." Via @darribas.
PlaceTech: Industry calls for clarity on geospatial data - "More than 150 organisations ...submitted concerns about the current value and relevance of geographic information... to the government’s UK Geospatial Commission." The full response from industry has been published online. I share an observation from Knight Frank, a residential and commercial property consultancy, on the topic of professional impact of geospatial skills: "Too many candidates that we have interviewed have jumped from one GIS [geographic information system] role to another, bouncing between industries demonstrating knowledge and experience of the systems and methods, but little commitment to (or passion for) the subject matter. If they fail to fully understand and engage with the subject matter of the organisation their capability supports, they will have limited success in owning and disseminating actionable insight from that capability."
Fast Company: Want to fix big tech? Change what classes are required for a computer science degree - Kathy Pham argues for a less "silo-ed" education. "But if we want more ethical technology, we need systemic change. We need to start at square one–in the classroom. Why? Because while the harmful technical vs. nontechnical classification flourishes in the tech industry, that’s not where it begins."
People
Oregon: Carolyn Fish Awarded NCAR Grant - Caroline Fish will study building empathy with maps at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO under a grant this summer and next.
Hi-Tec: Press Release (pdf) - John Nelson of Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, Texas won the HI-TEC 2019 Educator of the Year Award. He teaches UAV technology and has been a PI at the GeoTech Center.
CSUS [Sacremento]: Six Sac State women break new STEM ground with NSM honors - "For the first time, all six Outstanding Students in the NSM [Natural Sciences and Mathematics] College are women, reflecting progress in STEM education." Erika Ornouski, a geography major, has “proven to be far and away the best student to go through our program in years,” said Chair Thomas Krabacher.
On and Off Campus
Times Mail: Phones are tools for conservation in forest mapping project - Bloomington [IN] High School North students in Angie Shelton's science class took pictures of trees using iNaturalist. "The data recorded on the app goes to a massive [GIS] database that scientists can use to monitor native and invasive species." "About 15 people from the Indiana Geological [sic] Information Council's annual GIS Conference, which took place in Bloomington May 15-17, were on hand to share their own GIS expertise."
The Mercury News: College scandal: This Bay Area student newspaper nixed a popular feature a popular map of where seniors are bound for college "The student newspaper‘s top editors decided to scrap the who’s-going-where college map amid growing worries it was feeding an unhealthy culture obsessed with success." A few other high school paper editors removed the feature before the scandal.
The Highlands Current [Cold Spring, NY]: First Graders Map Main Street - "The QR code [posted in business windows which links to a review of a business] will also be placed on the map, which the two classes will produce collaboratively after exploring Main Street on foot."
Colorado State Centroid: "Over the next two weeks, four of us from the Geospatial Centroid will be in Greece—traveling, exploring, and ultimately putting our GIS and mapping skills to good use on the Ionian island of Kalamos."
Programs and Courses