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On April 5th, the California Geographic Information Association (CGIA) with co-sponsors: CentralCal URISA, NorCal URISA, SpARC, ReCCES, the City of Merced, UC Merced SNRI, and ESRI presented the 3rd Annual GeoSpatial Summit at UC Merced in Merced, California. The theme “GIS and Frontiers of Knowledge” focused on GIS education and professional development. Over 100 attendees included GIS professionals, students from various colleges, citizens, community leaders, and those interested in learning more about GIS. In addition to the speakers and round table discussions, several attendees brought maps for display in the map gallery which was set up all around the room.
The day started with a welcome from Tom Peterson, UC Merced Provost. In his remarks he was very encouraging of all attendees in their endeavors to learn more about GIS or include it in their career path. Our keynote speaker, Steve Shackelton was the Chief Ranger for Yosemite National Park as well as other Park assignments, and now Co-Director of the Grasslands-Vernal Pools Natural Reserve at UC Merced Sierra National Research Institute (SNRI). Steve presented the attendees with various projects he has and is involved with and how GIS has been an integral component. He also encouraged everyone on adding GIS as a career enhancement.
After a short break Ruth Mostern, UC Merced, announced the new Spatial and Analysis Research Center (SpARC) on the UC Merced campus. This is an exciting endeavor and will be open to students and faculty for projects and research.
The first of two breakout sessions, Pathways to Education, followed with representatives from several of the colleges in California. After lunch the second breakout session was Pathways to Careers with GIS professionals from several industries. As attendees gathered at the round tables in both of these sessions, the speakers presented education programs and how they use GIS in their fields.
A lightening talk session featured seven speakers who presented great projects in the allotted five-minute time frame.
The final speaker of the day was Kris Lynn-Patterson, UC Division of Ag and Natural Resources presenting Informatics and GIS (IGIS). The day was filled with great speakers, information sharing, lots and lots of maps representing all kinds of projects, and an opportunity to learn more about GIS. At the end of the day attendees were already talking about the GeoSummit next year. Stay tuned for information on the 2014 event.
 This is a helpful resource for folks looking to improve their maps. They have online resources for:
- Colours (or colors as we like to spell it).
- Fonts
- Symbols
- Map inspiration
Check it out here.
Hi there,
I have updated the GIS Policies page (for CGIA members only) and added data maintenance and management policies that were kindly forwarded to me by Twyla McDermott, in the CIO’s office at the City of Charlotte. They focus on data and metadata management which is helpful for large organizations.
 Christina Boggs from The State of California has created a simple location to post and find paid internships. I think this is great!
Earlier today, President Obama signed an Executive Order making open and machine readable data the new default for Government information. The White House simultaneously released the accompanying Open Data Policy.
Press Release
May 6, 2013 – California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona), through the College of the Extended University, is offering a newly updated certificate program in Geographic Information Systems this summer. The program is designed specifically for non-specialist GIS users in a variety of professional settings. In conjunction with hands-on training in ArcGIS version 10 geographic information software, the certificate program trains students in methodologies for valid and meaningful spatial data collection, analysis, and information design/dissemination through cartography and other means.
The GIS Certificate consists of four one-day courses; each taught on a Saturday from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. in the GIS training facility on the Cal Poly Pomona campus. Students who successfully complete all four required courses will satisfy the requirements for the GIS Certificate. Enrollment in this program is currently open for summer quarter. Classes begin in July.
Summer 2013 Course Offerings Include:
Fundamentals of GIS (July 13, 2013)
GIS Data and Geodatabases (July 27, 2013)
GIS Analysis I: Vector Spatial Analysis in GIS (August 10, 2013)
GIS Analysis II: Raster Spatial Analysis in GIS (August 24, 2013)
For detailed course information and registration, please visit www.ceu.csupomona.edu/go/gis or call the College of the Extended University’s Registration Office at 909.869.2288.
Download GIS Certificate Program fact sheet (PDF)
 If you have an application that you think has made valuable addition to your organization, the award below is a great way to show it off!
The 2013 Best of California Awards nominations are available online! Visit www.centerdigitalgov.com/2013BestofCA
The Best of California Awards program was established to recognize IT professionals in California state and local government and education organizations for their dedication, hard work and contributions. All government and education organizations in California are invited to submit nominations.
An Evaluation Committee will review submissions in the following categories and select recipients. All projects nominated must be in production and fully operational by submission. Distinguish the work of your team or that of a colleague by submitting a nomination!
SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE THURSDAY MAY 23, 2013.
Please join us for the highest level of professional acknowledgement within the California public sector IT community. Awards will be given in the following categories:
Leadership Awards:
- Demonstrated Leadership in Management of Information Technology
- Demonstrated Excellence in Project Management
Project Excellence Awards:
- Best Application Serving An Agency’s Business Needs
- Best Application Serving the Public
- Best IT Collaboration Among Organizations
- Best In-House Developed Application
- Most Innovative Use of Social Media
- Best Mobile/ Wireless Project
- Green IT Award
The State’s GIS Users Group, while focused on GIS at the state level, is open to anyone interested in their work. Christina Boggs from the California State Department of Water Resources passed this along, and this is an opportunity to get involved with State GIS folks.
“Before I get into the details, I wanted to announce some happy news. Future meetings are going to be open to Federal, Local, Education and other awesome people. The focus is still going to be on topics and items that pertain to California State government but we are implementing an open door policy for this group.”
From the last meeting:
Here are the meeting notes, including links to download the powerpoints of the presentation pieces – download here
During the meeting there were a couple of quick suggestions that I started:
- Contact list to facilitate community networking, thereby giving people the ability to find expertise from other departments – here is the link to add your contact information, after you post yours the list will be visible to you
- Location to share projects and pieces of work – I created a GitHub organization for us to put snippets of code or other open-source projects for sharing – become a member here https://github.com/CaliforniaStateGISUserGroup (it’s empty, let’s fill it!)
Advocate for California GIS
CGIA helps shape and support GIS standards, best practices, and legislation affecting California and the Nation. CGIA Awards recognize contributions and achievements of California GIS professionals.
Share best practices
CGIA members can access exclusive content including case studies, contract documents, strategy papers, position descriptions, policies, and standards.
Create peer networks
CGIA members connect with other professionals statewide through updates, events, and meetings focused on statewide issues.
Discover training, education, & jobs
CGIA maintains current education programs and training opportunities, and sponsors seminars and conferences. Find internship and job opportunities.
The SoCalGIS group has a meeting on May 9th at Culver City City Hall. If you are in the area, information about RSVP’ing is here:
http://socalgis.org/2013/04/02/socalgis-meeting-on-may-9th-2013/
 CGIA presents the 3rd Annual GeoSummit on Friday April 5th, along with co-sponsors: UC Merced, Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI), Resources Center on Community Engaged Scholarship (ReCCES), the Spatial Analysis and Research Center (SpARC), City of Merced, CentralCal URISA, and NorCal URISA
Building on the great success of last year, UC Merced is again hosting the event on their beautiful campus, in the California Room. The theme is GIS and Frontiers of Knowledge, and the focus will be education and professional development. The event is free, registration is required, and parking on campus will be about $6.00.
Keynote speaker: Steve Shackelton, former Yosemite National Chief Ranger and currently Co-Director of Grasslands-Vernal Pools Natural Reserve at UC Merced – SNRI.
The day is filled with great speakers, breakout sessions with Educators and GIS Professionals, and a map gallery display.
 CGIA, in partnernship with UC Merced, Central California URISA, ReCESS, and SpARC is hosting the 3rd Annual Geospatial Summit Series.
The event will be on April 5th from 8:30 AM to 4 PM at UC Merced.
Click here to register and see the agenda
Download the flyer.
Save the date and stay informed! Register now for these 2013 Esri events:
The open data discussion continues across the country. California counties have different approaches to the release of GIS data, from completely public domain, minimal payments, to fairly costly.
Read the full article.
Each year CGIA presents awards for excellence in GIS. It is an opportunity to recognize and honor those who do exemplary work or contribute to our industry in a huge way.
CGIA is pleased to announce has opened its nominations for awards in Exemplary Systems, Advancement of Collaboration, Outstanding Internet Presentation, Excellence in Education, and the Chairman’s Award. The awards will be presented at the CalGIS 2013 Conference to be held in Long Beach, April 15- 17. Nominations are due by March 22, 2013. Please take a few moments to review the award categories and consider submitting a nomination for the work you or a colleague has completed in the last year.
Thank You,
Karen Snow
CGIA Awards Committee
Nomination Form page:
http://arcims.uckare.org/cgia/
There is still time to register for CalGIS 2013 – Pathways to California’s Future! being held in Long Beach from April 15th-17th. This is the first year CGIA is a partner with the hosting California URISA chapters. In addition to this honor, one of our board members for education, Dr. Este Geraghty, MD, MS, MPH, FACP, GISP, and Assistant Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine, University of California Davis, is the opening Keynote Speaker.
Dr. Geraghty is a clinician researcher in the Division of General Medicine at UC Davis. Her research focuses on using GIS to influence health policy and advance community development programs. She has co-authored research in pesticide exposure modeling, statewide mental health service access and use tracking systems; asset and disparity mapping of youth outcomes, and index development for youth well-being and vulnerability. Dr. Geraghty is also the recipient of the Larry L. Sautter Golden Award for Innovation in Information Technology as a part of a team developing an electronic medical record data discovery solution. In addition to her degrees in Medical Informatics and Public Health, Dr. Geraghty is also a certified Public Health professional (CPH) and a Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP). |
In addition to Dr. Gheraghty, the CalGIS 2013 Planning Committee is doing an excellent job of creating a great conference. There will be presentations from some of the best GIS professionals in and around our State, as well as the latest technology from our exhibitors. This conference is all about the work we do in and for California. Hope to see you there.
The Center for Integrated Spatial Research (CISR), formerly the GIS/ISC Laboratory, is the central facility for spatially-focused research and training at the University of California, Santa Cruz. CISR is focused on integrating state-of-of-the-art spatial technology and methods (geographic information systems, global positioning systems, remote sensing, spatial modeling/statistics) with pressing interdisciplinary research and fostering cross-domain cooperation in the application of these tools. In order to advance this purpose, CISR is dedicated to promoting a diversity of research by increasing campus and community literacy in spatial methods and engaging in innovations in spatial science:
- Advanced spatial modeling
- Spatial tool development
- Geospatial web services
- Geovisualization
- Geospatial training
- and more…
The CISR website lists academic courses, training resources including podcasts and a self-paced documentation library, and workshops.
UCR Extension’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Certificate Program provides you with the most innovative and practical GIS education available, whether you are involved in building and implementing information systems or seeking the skills to launch a career in the GIS field.
Participants in the program will:
- Learn concepts and applications of GIS technology.
- Obtain hands-on experience using the latest GIS software.
- Use geospatial technology to develop solutions to issues facing communities and industry.
- Explore interdisciplinary elements of GIS including cartography, topology, database design and spatial analysis.
- Understand how GIS is used within health care, public works, natural and historical resources, environmental management and other fields.
For more information, visit the UC Riverside GIS Certificate Program page.
Some of you may have heard of this project, and some of you may have participated, as did some of the CGIA board members. Geospatial Education Specialists Ann Johnson and Chris Lewis have produced the final report: A Model Certificate for Geospatial Technology Program Development Aligned to Industry Needs.
“This project, the California Community College Geospatial Project: A Model Certificate for Geospatial Technology Programs, was tasked by the California Community Colleges LA/Orange County Environmental Training Center and funded by the California Community College CCC Chancellor’s Office to research ways that California Community Colleges can help prepare students entering or updating their skills to meet the needs of the geospatial industry. It was also tasked to investigate whether awarding badges based on industry validated skills and competencies would be of benefit to students, colleges and industry.” – Geospatial Education Specialists, Ann Johnson and Chris Lewis
CGIA is pleased to post the Final Report (PDF) on this very important project. Please take some time to read the document.
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