News

The CaGIS board is currently seeking nominees for future board positions.  Currently, we are seeking nominations for Vice President and two members of the Board of Directors.  The elected Vice President will serve a four-year term as VP, President-Elect, President, and Past President.  The Directors will each serve a four-year term.    

CaGIS rotates the officer positions among 1) government or private sectors and 2) academic sector, the next VP nominee will be selected from government or the private sector. The terms for those elected this year will run from spring 2024 until spring 2028. 

These positions include participating in one face-to-face Board meeting per year as well as one virtual Board meeting.  The face-to-face meeting is typically in conjunction with other meetings CaGIS members attend (such as the Annual AAG Meeting or CaGIS Conference) with travel reimbursement provided.   Other time required will depend on which CaGIS activities you choose to be more involved in as an officer or director. 

By choosing to serve as an officer or a board member, you will have the opportunity to influence the direction of the Society while working with a fabulous group of people.  You will be able to have direct input on the priorities of the society, future conference planning, and membership and financial strategies while expanding your professional network of amazing cartographic and geospatial contacts. 

The next two years are extremely important for CaGIS.  We will be co-hosting the 2024 CaGIS + UCGIS Symposium in Columbus, Ohio from June 3-6 and will be providing support for the International Cartographic Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia July 28-August 1, 2025.   In addition to conference support, CaGIS provides the community with a peer-reviewed journal, a number of student scholarships, an annual Map Design Competition, and serves as the United States liaison to the International Cartographic Association.  As an officer or a board member, you will have the opportunity to participate and influence all of these activities. 

So, if you would like the opportunity to make a significant contribution to CaGIS and the geospatial community as a whole (or if you would like to nominate someone whom you think could make a significant contribution), please contact me via e-mail at coled@si.edu by November 15, 2024.  The election of CaGIS officers will take place in December 2024.  The first face-to-face CaGIS Board meeting after elections will be in conjunction with the 2024 meeting in Columbus in early June.  

Dan Cole, CaGIS Past President

CaGIS is pleased to announce the results of the CaGIS 2023 Officer Election:

Caglar Koylu will become the CaGIS Vice President.  Dr. Koylu is an Assistant Professor of Geographic Information Science in the Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences at the University of Iowa. He received his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 2014.

Samantha Arundel was elected to another term on the CaGIS Board of Directors.  Dr. Arundel is a research geographer in the Center of Excellence for Geospatial Information Science at the U.S. Geological Survey. Her research focuses on automating terrain feature mapping and modeling using various techniques like traditional raster modeling, GEOBIA and machine learning.

Sam Stehle will join the CaGIS Board of Directors for his first term in 2023.  Dr. Stehle is a data scientist for the Center for Analytics at the U.S. Department of State. Sam is interested in geopolitical applications of machine learning and natural language processing, which he applies as a project manager, engineer, and civil servant. Sam received his PhD in Geography from Penn State in 2017 with his dissertation titled “Mapping Semantic and Spatial Mediascapes in the Catalonian Independence Movement: Geopolitics, Sports, and Black Boxes.”

We want to thank everyone who participated in the election, including those who ran for an office and those who voted and look forward to a successful and productive year!