GIS users and vendors joined the National Geographic Society, the Association of American Geographers, and the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) in opening their doors for GIS Day 1999.
GIS Day was held November 19, the last day of Geography Awareness Week. Since 1987, the National Geographic Society has sponsored Geography Awareness Week to promote geographic literacy in schools, communities, and organizations, with a focus on the education of children. Geography Awareness Week was held November 15-19, 1999.
GIS Day is a grassroots event that formalizes the practice of geographic information systems (GIS) users and vendors of opening their doors to schools, businesses, and the general public to showcase real-world applications of this important technology. The event is sponsored by the National Geographic Society, the Association of American Geographers, the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, and ESRI. ESRI is the manufacturer of numerous GIS software packages, including ArcInfo and ArcView.
Over 1,000 organizations registered for GIS Day and
over 1,000,000 children and adults were educated in GIS.
Cartographers provided several on-site presentations and facility tours during the day.
These included an overview of
research projects using GIS ,
such as identifying energy,
aggregate, and water resources to support the growing Colorado Front Range
population, assessing land use and water resources in the Middle Rio Grande Basin,
and evaluating the effects of abandoned mine lands. Separate presentations
were given on applications of GIS in education. The Land Use History of
North America project was demonstrated.
The USGS also participated in several off-site activities.
A presentation on mapping and GIS was given by Joseph Kerski for 100 people at a meeting of the
Gold Prospectors of Colorado, Colorado Springs.
Joseph Kerski
taught a series of GIS-based lessons using elk migration data for an
undergraduate Ecology class at the University
of Northern Colorado .
We participated in a kickoff of a new science education masters program at the
University of Colorado at Denver
by hosting an exhibit with curriculum materials for the nearly 1,000 teachers
who attended. GIS will be a big part of this education masters program. Lastly,
Joseph Kerski gave a colloquium on GIS applications at the USGS for the University of Colorado, Boulder,
Department of Geography.
The US Geological Survey, as the nation's largest
science agency, uses GIS technology to provide information
for wise decision-making for urban and resource
managers, planners, engineers, and all sectors of
society.
The USGS Rocky Mountain Mapping
Center staff conducted several demonstrations
of the application of GIS at its site in Denver.
These took place in building 810 of the
Denver Federal Center near 6th and Kipling
Streets in Lakewood. See the web site for a
map of the Denver Federal Center.
Thirty high school and
middle school science and geography teachers
were given 2 days of training by USGS and Census Bureau staff in
Adams-12 and
Jefferson County school districts
through a grant from
the National Geographic Society
Education Foundation.
U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey
Rocky Mountain Mapping Center
Maintainer:webmaster@rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov
URL:http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov
/public/outreach/gisday99.html
Last modified: 27 August 2002