News

Brianna Bambic will be presenting “Allen Coral Atlas: A New Technology for Coral Reef Conservation” at the next GeoBytes webinar on Friday, September 23 at 12:00 pm ET. The webinar is FREE for all CaGIS members. See attached abstract for more information about the presentation.

Please see the CaGIS GeoBytes page for more information on registering.

Abstract

Coral reef managers and decision makers at multiple scales need information, in near real time, to react to the increasing threats facing reefs. However, more than three quarters of the world’s coral reefs have never been mapped and lack monitoring. To address this knowledge gap and to support, inform, and inspire critical actions to manage and protect coral reefs, the Allen Coral Atlas combines high resolution satellite imagery, machine learning, and field data to produce globally consistent benthic and geomorphic maps and monitoring systems of the world’s coral reefs. The initiative’s goal is to help stakeholders ranging from local communities to regional and national governments reach their conservation targets and improve their coastal resilience. The multi-disciplinary partnership is led by Arizona State University, in collaboration with Planet, University of Queensland, and the Coral Reef Alliance. Baseline maps have multiple uses, including: sustainable coastal development, site selection of marine protected areas, planning of restoration activities, and reef fisheries management. In this presentation, we will demonstrate how the Allen Coral Atlas supports data-driven management, conservation, and restoration of coral reefs at local, national, regional, and global scales. We have developed online courses to facilitate increased use and impact of the Atlas, and are collaborating with networks of individuals and institutions who can be alerted when changes are detected (e.g., large-scale bleaching or sedimentation events).

Brianna Bambic leads the Allen Coral Atlas Field Engagement team at the National Geographic Society and Arizona State University. With a coral reef biology and resource management background, she was an Independent Researcher for 7 years that culminated in a virtual reality experience of Half Moon Caye National Monument, Belize with a National Geographic Explorer Grant, helping communicate science to the public. Brianna received her MS in natural resource management from the University of Akureyri, Iceland in 2019. Her expertise includes coastal and marine management, global science communication, and developing capacity around remote sensing and mapping. With countless hours underwater and >700 logged dives, she loves spending time exploring the ocean.

Rodney Jackson will be presenting “2022 Update of the USDoL Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM)” at the next GeoBytes webinar on Friday, June 3 at 12:00 pm ET. The webinar is FREE for all CaGIS members. See attached abstract for more information about the presentation.

Please see the CaGIS GeoBytes page for more information on registering.

Abstract

In collaboration with the US Department of Labor (USDoL), the National Geospatial Technology Center (GeoTech Center) is updating the Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM). The GTCM framework was developed through a collaborative effort involving the US DoL Employment and Training Administration (ETA), the GeoTech Center, and industry experts. We are seeking geospatial professionals to complete a review of the GTCM. Their commitment to participate in an assessment of the GTCM tiers via online survey will enable us to update the competency model to best reflect the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) needed in the geospatial industry.

Dr. Rodney D. Jackson serves as the Director for the Special Operations School of Information Technology (SOSIT). He has 20 years of experience in higher education, having held various teaching and administrative positions at community colleges, universities, and governmental institutions of higher learning. A geographer by training, Rodney is Certified Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP). He prefers to fly-fish local freshwater streams during his free time. Rodney retired from the United States Army Reserves as Lieutenant Colonel in the Engineer Corps (Geospatial Designator) in 2017.

CaGIS is proud to honor Alan MacEachren (Penn State) with the Distinguished Career Award this year. The CaGIS Distinguished Career Award honors the accomplishments of senior professionals who have contributed substantially to the advancements of the fields of cartography, GIS or GIScience, or the interface between cartography and GIScience. CaGIS will present the award to Alan at AutoCarto 2022.

Bo Zhao will be presenting “Deep Fake geography? A humanistic GIS Reflection upon Geospatial Artificial Intelligence” at the next GeoBytes webinar on Friday, May 27 at 12:00 pm ET. The webinar is FREE for all CaGIS members. See attached abstract for more information about the presentation.

Please see the CaGIS GeoBytes page for more information on registering.

Abstract

The ongoing development of Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) has raised deep concerns about the emergence of deep fake geography and its potentials in transforming the human perception of the geographic world (Zhao et al 2021). This seminar presents a humanistic GIS reflection upon GeoAI (Zhao 2022) and its social implications using an empirical study that dissected the algorithmic mechanism of falsifying satellite images with non-existent landscape features. To demonstrate our pioneering attempt at deep fake detection, a robust approach is then proposed and evaluated. Our proactive study warns of the emergence and proliferation of deep fakes in geography just as “lies” in maps. We suggest timely detections of deep fakes in geospatial data and proper coping strategies when necessary. More importantly, it is encouraged to cultivate critical geospatial data literacy and thus to understand the multi-faceted impacts of deep fake geography on individuals and human society.

Bo Zhao is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Washington, Seattle. His recent research interests include GIScience, geographical misinformation, and social implications of emerging GIS technologies, especially in the context of the United States or China.

CaGIS is proud to present the winners of the 2021 Map Design Competition. We thank the many contributors and judges! Please be sure to visit the Gallery to see some of the winners from this year’s competition.

Carolynne Hultquist and Cascade Tuholske will be presenting “Using Geospatial Data to Evaluate Climate Hazards and Inform Environmental Justice” at the next GeoBytes webinar on Friday, April 22 at 12:00 pm ET. The webinar is FREE for all CaGIS members. See attached abstract for more information about the presentation.

Please see the CaGIS GeoBytes page for more information on registering.

Abstract

This webinar will introduce two new datasets released by NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC): Global High Resolution Daily Extreme Urban Heat Exposure UHE-Daily) v1 (1983-2016) and U.S. Social Vulnerability Index Grids v1 (2000, 2010, 2014, 2016, and 2018). UHE-Daily is a global inventory of extreme heat events covering more than 13,000 urban settlements from 1983 – 2016 across five different extreme heat thresholds. It includes the number of people exposed to each heat event as well as 34-year exposure trends. The U.S. Social Vulnerability Index Grids data set contains gridded layers for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) for the overall score from 15 variables and four sub-category themes (Socioeconomic, Household Composition & Disability, Minority Status & Language, and Housing Type & Transportation) based on census tract level inputs. The webinar will introduce the datasets and provide brief tutorials in Python and QGIS.

Carolynne Hultquist is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at the Columbia Climate School, Columbia
University. Hultquist specializes in developing computational methods for the fusion and validation of spatial data sources to better understand complex environments, especially
vulnerability in relation to climate hazards. She holds a Ph.D. (2019) from the Pennsylvania State University in Geography and Social Data Analytics.

Cascade Tuholske is an Earth Institute Postdoctoral Research Scientist working with the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESN) at the Columbia Climate School, Columbia University. His research centers on the intersection of climate change, urbanization, and food security, with a recent focus on mapping urban extreme heat exposure worldwide. He received his PhD in 2020 from the Department of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara.