Joanne N. Halls, PhD Dept. of Geography & Geology David Kirk Information Technology Services
Geographic Information Systems manage and analyze data to solve spatial problems. Real World Abstraction Analysis Action Representation Digital Model Printed Maps Conversion Presentation
Nearly 80% of business and government information has some reference to location (Open GIS Consortium) Geographic information plays a role in about one-half of the economic activities of the United States (National Academy of Public Administration) GIS is discipline-independent it is in everything!
Geography and geospatial technology is Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Today s youth are tomorrow s decision makers, and an understanding of geography and the use of geospatial technology will be crucial to helping them make good decisions that affect global health and community life. Unfortunately, geography has always been sort of an underdog in our educational system; it s been misunderstood, generalized, and sometimes ignored. Even today, as we see increased focus on STEM in education, we frequently see geography completely disregarded as a component of STEM. Jack Dangermond, President, ESRI, January 2, 2013
GIS job market is growing at an annual rate of nearly 35% (Dept of Labor Employment and Training Administration) Geospatial Information Technology Association projects an expansion of 100% annually within the private sector job market
The following academic units have either implemented some geospatial curriculum or have faculty and students involved in research projects utilizing this technology: Cameron School of Business: Economics, Info. Systems & Operations Management, and Marketing Watson College of Education: Instructional Technology and Secondary Education College of Arts and Sciences: Anthropology, Biology & Marine Biology, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Computer Science, Environmental Studies, Geography & Geology, Sociology & Criminology College of Health & Human Services: School of Health & Applied Human Sciences and School of Social Work have not previously implemented geospatial technology but this is a big growth avenue for us to explore
1. Friday Hall 2. Belk Hall 3. Galloway Hall 4. Graham Hall
New methods for mapping coastal habitats Modeling impacts of sea level rise, storm surge, and coastal erosion Predictive sea turtle nesting model
#S HE-1 HE-2 #S #S Sampling Site Land Use / Land Cover Single Family Multi Family HE-3 #S HE-4 #S #S HE-5 Mobile Home Commercial Office Institutional #S HE-6 Industrial Utilities Under Construction Transportation Agriculture Forestry Other Resource Extraction Recreation Undeveloped Water Marsh #S HE-7 N W E S 1 0 1 Miles
ESRI site license ($14,238) Other software (Erdas, ENVI, etc.: $15,000) 20-seat lab in DeLoach, 24-seat lab in Bear, 40- seat lab in NSB, library, and many other departmental and faculty research labs (on campus and CMS) Web presence: www.uncw.edu/gis ArcGIS Server: web server for hosting dynamic map applications
1. Build on the initial GIS work in the business affairs division to utilize infrastructure data that is shared among departments 2. Analyze geospatial data for efficient use of space and future space planning 3. Integrate GIS into emergency management 4. Utilize existing data to create an ecosystem management model of campus for a sustainable future
1. Existing research data needs a secure data storage, visualization and management plan 2. Build a sense of community among faculty 3. Develop multi-disciplinary collaborations 4. Celebrate National GIS day (annually 3 rd week in November) with a research symposium 5. Need a leader who can organize and help initiate research projects 6. Results in more $$s for research
1. All students must have access to geospatial technology: Improve computing in all labs Support software and server implementations 2. Undergrad and Grad curriculum has been expanding: Minor geospatial technology, BA Applied Geography & Grad GIS Cert Need a better way of enabling multi-disciplinary learning 3. Teaching traditional, hybrid, and some online (asynchronous and synchronous): We need more online courses 4. Further develop experiential learning opportunities: Internships and other community involvement projects Need to expand and support the GIS listserv and website We need to build more relationships with public/private sectors
The UNCW GIS user community needs support to improve intellectual and data sharing/collaboration Plan for future growth of geospatial technology Develop an innovative approach to linking, sharing and developing the technology to benefit the campus infrastructure, student learning, problem-solving research, community service, private sector growth All it takes is time and people Our students are amazing and can help us more fully utilize this technology ITS Help (TAC) needs to have more GIS expertise We need a campus GIS administrator