October 2013

CENTER FOR GEOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS NEWSLETTER

October 2013

HIGHLIGHTS

• January GIS Institute – Extended Application Deadline
• GIS for the Humanities Workshop - Call for Registration
• November GIS Technical Training Workshops
• Celebrate GIS Day with CGA
• Open Geoportal National Summit 2013
• Call for Papers: 2014 Esri Education GIS Conference
• 2014 Esri T3G Institute
• Maps and the Geospatial Revolution: A MOOC on Cartography
• The Importance of Spatial Thinking Now
• MBTA Map Re-design Competition Winner Map
• More …

CGA NEWS

January GIS Institute – Extended Application Deadline

This 9-day intensive training program in January 2014 aims to teach students how to perform spatial analysis and apply GIS methods in their research. No previous GIS training required. The extended application deadline for the January GIS Institute is November 5^th, 2013. 

GIS for the Humanities Workshop - Call for Registration

This full-day workshop offers hands-on instruction on learning and applying several GIS and mapping techniques commonly used by scholars practicing in the Humanities.  The workshop will include discussion and interactive exercises aimed to contextualize the usage of geography and maps for each participant’s individual research or teaching interests.  The registration deadline is Monday, December 2^nd @1:00pm, 2013.  

November GIS Technical Training Workshops

CGA offers several non-credit technical training workshops relate to GIS (Free to Harvard affiliates but registration is required). The November workshops are:

• Exploring Google’s Mapping Products, by Jeff Blossom, November 1^st, 2013
• Introduction to Remote Sensing, by Sumeeta Srinivasan, November 8^th, 2013
• Three-Dimensional GIS, by Paul Cote, November 13^th, 2013
• Advanced Remote Sensing for Land Use Change Analysis, by Stacy Bogan, November 15^th, 2013
• Database Design for GPS/GIS Applications, by Nicole Alexander, November 22^nd, 2013

Celebrate GIS Day with the CGA

Come and join us on Wednesday, November 20^th, a unique fun day for GIS lovers! Admission is free.  Three activities will be taking place:

• 12:00 – 1:00pm: Tour of the Howard Fisher Collection

Location: Meet at the entry to the Lamont Library, Harvard Yard.

Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of Howard Fisher’s appointment at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Fisher founded the Laboratory for Computer Graphics (later, the Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis), which was incubated in Memorial Hall. The Lab concentrated a series of people and projects that fashion the software and hardware which seeds the beginnings of a computer mapping approach and that of geographic information systems (GIS). Borrowing and significantly extending the process of mapping quantitative spatial information from Ed Horwood and his students at the University of Washington (the catalyst for a 1950s/1960s revival of geographic analysis), Fisher and the Lab formulated many of the methods that underpin modern representations of statistical surfaces. Among the many individuals that worked with Fisher, Jack Dangermond (MLA 1969) emerged to form Environmental Systems Research Institute (now Esri) in Redlands, CA. On GIS Day, Nov. 20th, Matthew W. Wilson, a visiting faculty at Harvard, will introduce the Howard Fisher Collection and guide participants through some of the more exciting materials, exploring the connections between contemporary digital mapping and the techniques forged in the early days of the Lab under Howard Fisher.  

• 1:00 – 2:00pm: ABCD-GIS talk on 3-D GIS

Location: Room S050, CGIS South building, 1730 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA

“3D Modeling on a Campus Scale” will be presented by Niels la Cour, Alexander Stepanov, and Lukasz Czarniecki of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. 

Abstract: Planning on a campus scale requires adequate and up-to-date understanding and awareness of the campus physical environment, campus systems and interactions between them. Use of campus 2d/3d models, which incorporate existing GIS data, architectural drawings, building information, space and organizational use, can facilitate the planning process and foster communication between stakeholders. In addition, such integrated campus models are a necessary base for decision support systems and methodologies. However, the creation of such models from multiple and diverse sources, as well as keeping these models current, may be a challenging and time-consuming task. In this presentation we will discuss and demonstrate our approach and workflows for integrating CAD floor plans, building models (BIM/Revit), space and organizational data into the GIS environment. Specifically we will address data interoperability issues and application of Feature Manipulation Engine (FME) and CityEngine for translating and re-creating existing buildings into the GIS environment. 

• 9:00am – 5:00pm: “Out of Eden Walk” Cartography Exhibit

Location: The lobby of the CGIS Knafel building at 1737 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA

Writer Paul Salopek is walking from Africa to Tierra Del Fuego, South America, recreating the path of human migration, and writing stories along the way.  The CGA’s Jeff Blossom has been making maps and managing the geographic information for Paul along his journey, and these maps will be showcased in a poster exhibit.  The project is also sponsored by National Geographic, whose December issue (released November 16^th) will feature the Walk as its cover story.  More on the Walk: http://www.outofedenwalk.com/

CGA’s Monthly GIS Presentations – come join the discussion

• Colloquia

Tim Cresswell, Professor of History and International Affairs at Northeastern University, will present on November 8^th, 12:30 – 2:00pm, in Room S450 of CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA. Specific topic will be announced soon.

• ABCD GIS

“3D Modeling on a Campus Scale” presented by Niels la Cour, Alexander Stepanov, and Lukasz Czarniecki of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.  November 20th, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m., in room S050 of CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA.

New CGA Affiliates

Please welcome new CGA affiliates and interns: René Westerholt, Emily Lowe, and Said Douai.                    

CONFERENCES, CALLS, EVENTS & EMPLOYMENT

Open Geoportal National Summit 2013

The first OGP Summit will be hosting by Tufts University on October 27^th and 28^th in Boston, MA. Over 50 OGP participants will gather to discuss this ongoing collaborative project that’s produced the underlying technology that’s being used for the Harvard Geospatial Library. 

Call for Papers: 2014 Esri Education GIS Conference

The conference with the theme “Education’s Grand Challenges-GIS Opportunities” will be held July 12-15, 2014 in San Diego, CA. The deadline to submit abstract is November 1, 2013.

2014 Esri T3G Institute

The 6^th Annual T3G (Teachers Teaching Teachers GIS) Institute will be held at the Esri Headquarters in Redlands, CA, June 15-20, 2014. It is a professional event for educators from all levels to help other educators learn why and how to use GIS effectively. There is no registration fee, and the successful applicants will only be responsible for transportation to Redlands, and some meals.

The deadline to submit your application is November 25, 2013. 

NEWS ON GIS RESEARCH AND SERVICES

Maps and the Geospatial Revolution: A MOOC on Cartography

Worldometers - real time world statistics

Field Photo Iphone App Developed by University of Oklahoma

Search “Field Photo” in Apple Store and get it for free. You can share your geo-tagged field photos of cropland, rangeland, forest, harmful algal bloom, wildlife, flood, and diseases around the world.

The Importance of Spatial Thinking Now

Where Poor and Uninsured Americans Live

Editors of this issue are Fei Meng and Jeff Blossom.

The CGA Newsletter is published monthly.

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