Spatially Connected

In class a few weeks ago, I mentioned that ESRI had a GIS dictionary available on their website - it is a helpful resource for beginners and old-timers alike.  Here is the link:

http://support.esri.com/index.cfm?fa=knowledgebase.gisDictionary.gateway

Taken from Michalis Avraam's blog is an interesting (and comprehensive) list of skills that every person interested in a GIS career should see.  Here is an excerpt from the posting, as well as the link to the rest of the article. 


"I have been lucky enough to orga­nize a GIS Day '09 career event at the uni­ver­sity of Washington, joined by Harvey Arnone of city of Seattle, Marty Balikov of ESRI Olympia and Dane Springmeyer, free­lance geospa­tial devel­oper. The dis­cus­sion was titled "What are the essen­tial skills to suc­ceed as a GIS Analyst", and I have com­piled some notes to help with all aspir­ing GIS Professionals out there. Feel free to add more details in the com­ments sec­tion as you see fit.

The dis­cus­sion ranged from skills to suc­ceed in an orga­ni­za­tion using GIS to sup­port busi­ness deci­sions (City of Seattle), ESRI, the lead­ing GIS soft­ware pro­duc­ers and free­lance devel­op­ment using GIS tech­nolo­gies. There is sig­nif­i­cant over­lap for the required and desir­able skills, but also some slight dif­fer­ences. I will list the skills in no sig­nif­i­cant order and pro­vide a brief expla­na­tion. If a skill is some­thing I per­son­ally added, it will start with an asterisk."

To continue reading, click here.

I recently came across this blog while looking at the text, Making Maps: A Visual to Map Guide for GIS.  I use some of the graphics for this text in my Map Design lecture and would recommend this book as a resource and reference for cartographic design. 

Here is the link to John Krygier's website that has a very entertaining and interesting blog, as well as information on the book.

http://makingmaps.net/

Opportunities for Graduate Study

Department of Geography
Ohio University, Athens, OH


Two two-year research assistantships at the M.A. level are available through a new project on local knowledge and climate change adaptation in Tanzania supported by the National Science Foundation's Geography and Spatial Science (GSS) Program. The project -  Linking Local Knowledge and Local Institutions for
the Study of Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change: Participatory GIS in Northern Tanzania - investigates the myriad ways in which human, social, and institutional capital enable households and communities to draw on local knowledge and outside specialist knowledge to moderate the negative effects of greater climatic instability on rural livelihoods.

In addition to completing required courses for the MA program over two academic years (2010-2011 and 2011-2012), the successful candidates will contribute to an international interdisciplinary research project.  We expect applicants to
develop a thesis project that contributes to the project's research objectives.

One graduate research assistant will work on the development of online multimedia applications derived from a participatory GIS. Background or interest in cartography and web-based mapping is desirable.

A second research assistant will work with the research team on the implementation of the project's participatory field methodology and contribute to data analysis.  The student's interests should be focused on environment- development interactions (e.g., the dynamics of resource access, political, environmental or cultural-linguistic dimensions of local knowledge systems, gendered aspects of climate change adaptation). Proficiency in Kiswahili or
interest in learning Kiswahili at Ohio University is a plus.

The assistantships include two academic years of tuition waiver and stipend for students enrolled in the Geography M.A. program.  Additional support is available for student field research activities in Tanzania.

Eligible students may also apply for a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship from OU's Center for African Studies:
http://www.internationalstudies.ohio.edu/app-info/flas.html

The Ohio University Department of Geography is a dynamic department with 150undergraduate majors and a graduate program that has expanded to 25. Faculty in the department offer coursework and conduct research on topics that bring
together the Earth's human and physical components and focus on issues from local to global scales. Graduate students also benefit from the resources of
Ohio University's Center for African Studies, a National Resource Center (NRC) for Africa, which creates additional opportunity for the interdisciplinary study of African languages, societies, and environments.

The application deadline is February 15 for Fall 2010 admission.

For more information regarding the application procedure, consult the department and Graduate College websites: http://www.ohio.edu/geography & http://www.ohio.edu/graduate/).

For more information about the assistantships, contact Tom Smucker  smucker@ohio.edu.

International organizations, such as the ones listed below, provide some assistance in developing countries when it comes to finding GIS jobs.  Simply put, everyone needs maps.  All organizations included on the list have GIS/mapping needs to further their purposes (either currently or in the past few years) in various parts of the world.  Having staff that not only know GIS but also know about local culture, environment, language, or politics provides a massive benefit.  Possessing these skills allows the international organizations to move their plans forward with much greater speed.  As a result, they will reach their goals of helping the environment or the people they are trying to assist more quickly.

To read more go to: http://www.careersingis.com/?p=145#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gis-jobs-in-developing-countries

More than 30 free e-books covering a range of GIS topics are currently available.  Download the ESRI Best Practices e-books for free at
www.esri.com/bestpractices .

From the Morning News:

If you’ve ever picked up an old globe in a thrift store, you already know the sport of trying to determine its age based on where certain borders are demarcated and how territories are designated. And if testing your combined knowledge of history, culture, and cartography sounds like your kind of fun (it’s our kind of fun), you may enjoy what we’ve got in store.

We’ve removed the legends and all other telltale labels from the maps below, and challenge you to guess what each map depicts using only clues contained within the maps: the color-coding, names, landmarks, and whatever else you can detect. Here’s one clue to get you started: None of the maps represent gross national anything.

http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/diversions/cloud_of_atlases.php

The GIS Internship Program is open to community college, undergraduate, and graduate students majoring in the fields of geography, technology, and civil engineering with experience in geospatial technology or an interest in developing their skills in spatial data technology in support of NASA’s mission. A student majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), history, archaeology or any other major and demonstrating an interest in working in historical documentation and geospatial technology (GIS) will also be considered.

Exceptional and highly motivated high school students with at least a 3.3 GPA and a demonstrated interest in entering a field such as geography, urban planning, civil engineering, or related area will also be considered.

Primary duties for GIS Internship position include:

• Support development, maintenance and data input in GIS for the Center.
• Perform updates to building floor plans and space utilization, environmental data, and center infrastructure.Assist with modifications of center spatial data and web interface while adhering to agency standards and procedures.
• Use marked-up drawings, as-builts, sketches, field surveys or tabular data.

Additional preferences and desired skills include experience with GIS data development and conversion and basic knowledge of principles of data collection, including GPS, digital cartography, GPS, AutoCAD, relational databases, planning, surveying, engineering (utility distribution), and remote sensing/aerial photography.

Primary duties for Historical Preservation Internship position include:

• Assist with identifying and organizing historic documentation for historic sites and structures of architectural and technological significance.
• Research will include using primary and secondary sources such as reports, photographs, and videos.
• Previous work with databases and geographic information systems (GIS) preferred.
• Preferred majors include archaeology or history with a preference for training as historian or archivist

NASA GIS Internship Eligibility (at time of internship placement):

• U.S. Citizen and age 16 or older.
• Community college, undergraduate, and graduate students with a minimum of 12 credit hours completed and a minimum GPA of 3.0/4.0 required.
• Internship is also open to motivated high school students who are performing exceptionally in science and technology courses.
• Enrolled full-time or part-time with preferred major in Geography, Technology, Civil Engineering, History or Archaeology; other majors considered.
• Recent graduates must be officially accepted into an official academic program at the next level with plans to enroll the semester immediately following the internship.
• Internship placement is contingent upon verification of all eligibility criteria.
• This program is a student internship program and is not intended for recent graduates seeking entry-level or part-time employment.

Prior GIS experience or coursework is not required although a preference will be given to candidates who have experience and coursework in ESRI software (ArcGIS) or comparable GIS and are familiar with symbols, terminology, and accepted standards and procedures in GIS and mapping.

All interns at NASA are required to undergo a background security screening. This screening will take place after selection and before placement in the internship program. Students from outside the Hampton area are responsible for their own lodging, if needed.

Application Deadline: January 31, 2010.  Please visit the official website for details, including online application forms.  http://vsgc.odu.edu/GISIntern/

Click on the link below to go to a government website  that is using GIS to help people track what states the Recovery Act money is being spent.

http://www.recovery.gov/transparency/pages/home.aspx?State=OR&datasource=recipient

There will be a screening at the Portland Film & Video Festival at the Portland Art Museum this coming Tuesday at 9:30 pm and Saturday at 2:00 pm. Details and tickets at nwfilm.org/festivals/nwfvf/. The Tuesday evening screening will be followed by Q&A with filmmaker Sandy Cioffi.  Sweet Crude is about Nigeria’s Niger Delta - the human and environmental consequences of 50 years of oil extraction, the history of non-violent protest, and the members of a new insurgency who, in the three years since we met them as college students, became the young men of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). The film confronts issues of human rights, resource control, environmental justice and mainstream media agendas.