The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Geographic Information System Council celebrates GIS Day on November 17, 2010, with a series of free educational seminars on how to use geographic information systems to improve our community and our world.
Held each year on the Wednesday of National Geographic Society’s Geography Awareness Week (November 15-19 in 2010), GIS Day is a global event to make people aware of geographic information system (GIS) technology and the important contributions it makes in the fields of science, technology, information, and the humanities. The UWM GIS Day provides an opportunity for those interested in learning about GIS to see its applications in action. The event runs from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM in the American Geographic Society Library within UWM’s Golda Meir Library, 2311 East Hartford Ave, Milwaukee.
The UWM event features 30-minute speed sessions designed to give an overview of the topic from a variety of perspectives, more in-depth hands-on education sessions, and a free Zaffiro’s pizza lunch sponsored by the Geospatial Information Technology Association – Wisconsin Chapter. Wansoo Im, PhD, founder of Vertices, LLC, will deliver the keynote address during lunch about using GIS to help community organizations and to educate the K12 age group. There will also be vendor exhibits and a student map competition.
Milwaukee residents are directly benefiting from GIS. After the record-setting rainfall event that caused widespread damage to homes in July, the city used its geographic information system to create a series of maps showing that the damaged areas were where the most financially-distressed families live. Once the Federal Emergency Management Agency saw that relationship, they granted $26 million for repairs – having first rejected the city’s application that did not have the maps. That was a $26 million set of maps.” says William Huxhold, chairman of the UWM GIS Council.
All UWM GIS Day activities are free, but registration via the UWM GIS Day Web site is required.
Source: UW-Milwaukee