National Geographic Society Chief Cartographer To Speak, Display Maps At 2005 GIS Day Nov. 16
 
By David Sims, EOS

The 7th annual Geographical Information System (GIS) Day Conference and College Fair will be held Wednesday, Nov. 16, at the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS). The featured speaker for the daylong event will be Allen Carroll, chief cartographer and executive vice president of National Geographic Maps.

Carroll will take GIS Day participants on a tour of ninety years of mapmaking at the National Geographic Society. The collection on display will be a sub-selection of maps from the Society’s historical and modern archives in Washington, D.C. The exhibition will include approximately one hundred global, regional and topical maps created by Society cartographers.

As chief cartographer, Carroll presides over the editorial and creative efforts of the Society’s map division, including the renowned supplement maps published in National Geographic magazine, the Eighth Edition Atlas of the World, published in fall 2004, and the National Geographic Map Machine, an innovative world atlas on the World Wide Web.

GIS Day is a day set aside during National Geography Awareness Week for geo-spatial science professionals to reach out and educate people of all ages about the important contributions that geo-spatial, science-related technologies make in all of our lives, including such technologies as computerized mapping and “remote sensing” of the Earth’s surface via satellite imagery.

The National Geographic Society has sponsored Geography Awareness Week since 1987 to promote geographic literacy in schools, communities, and organizations, with a focus on the education of children. GIS Day is an annual event hosted by the New Hampshire Space Grant Consortium, the UNH Office of the Vice President of Research and Public Service, and EOS ‘s Complex Systems Research Center (CSRC).

For the event’s morning sessions from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., invited guests include hundreds of high school juniors, seniors, and home-schooled students from all over New England. Geo-spatial science professionals, university students, and the general public are welcome from noon to 5 p.m. Carroll’s presentation will be held from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., after which he will conduct a book signing. Admission is free for all participants.

In addition to the National Geographic map collection, all GIS Day 2005 guests will be able to view an extensive modern cartographic exhibition, a Geo-Spatial Science college fair, and hands-on tours of CSRC’s state-of-the-art GIS and Remote Sensing laboratory.

In an effort to further enhance geographic knowledge, all student guests will be provided with packets of additional information about geo-science related technologies, topics, and career and educational opportunities.

For details on GIS Day 2005 and directions to Morse Hall, where all events will be held, visit http://gisday.sr.unh.edu. For further information about GIS Day 2005, contact Michael Routhier at UNH by e-mail at mike.routhier@unh.edu or phone at 2-1792.