IGS Co-hosts Indiana GIS Initiative Conference

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IGS Co-hosts Indiana GIS Initiative Conference

by Kim Sowder

Photo showing conference attendees during a general session in the main conference hall at the Sheraton Hotel.

The Indiana Geological Survey (IGS) was a co-host and major contributor to the 2004 Indiana GIS Initiative Conference Putting Indiana on the Map, held February 25 and 26 at the Sheraton Hotel in Indianapolis. The conference was attended by more than 300 GIS specialists from around the state of Indiana.

Many conference logistics were the responsibility of the IGS. Paul Irwin served on the conference planning committee. Kim Sowder and Dave Held created conference signs. Donna Webb, Janis Fox, and Amanda Wilson handled all registration duties, including putting together materials for conference attendees. Jay Arnold, Drew Packman, and Sam Frushour set up poster display areas and the registration area backdrop. Barb Hill and John Day served as conference photographers.

Technical expertise was shared by several IGS people during the conference. Karen Like instructed attendees in a morning-long workshop on metadata; Rick Hill served on a panel discussion of CAP grant initiatives; Prem Radhakrishnan gave a presentation on the MIDCARB project; and Denver Harper and Chris Walls presented the latest information on the Statewide GIS Atlas. Agnieszka Drobniak and Jennifer Olejnik each displayed posters emphasizing the use of GIS in geologic research at the IGS.

Two distinctions were awarded the IGS at the conference. The Public Land Survey System dataset developed by the IGS was accepted and declared as the first framework layer adopted by the State for use in a statewide-GIS. The quality of data and data documentation was the driving force behind this declaration. Secondly, the IGS received the 2004 Award for Achievement in GIS in the Educational or Not-for-Profit category for A GIS Atlas for Indiana.

Photos by John Day.

Dave Mockhart (left), GIS conference co-chair, presents IGS Director John Steinmetz with the 2004 Award for Achievement in GIS in the Educational or Not-For-Profit category.
Jennifer Olejnik presented a poster titled Combining Database Analysis, GIS, and Glacial Geology.	Agnieszka Drobniak with her poster, A GIS-Based Evaluation of the Springfield Coal in Indiana.
Karen Like leads the Metadata and Data Clearinghouse Workshop.	Prem Radhakrishnan presented Distributed Spatial Databases: The MIDCARB Carbon Sequestration Project at the conference.