Illinois State GIS Day Activities, Lecture, Nov. 19

Illinois State University will hold its annual Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Day on Wednesday, Nov. 19, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Bowling and Billiards Center Activity Room.  The event is free and open to the public and will feature displays, presentations and hands-on activities utilizing GIS technology.

David Bennett, a faculty member in the Department of Geography at the University of Iowa, will deliver the day's keynote address, "Geoinformatics in Complex Adaptive Systems," at 4 p.m.  Bennett's research focuses on the uses of GIS science and technology and on environmental policy and decision making.  His presentation is part of Illinois State's Department of Geography-Geology annual Douglas Clay Ridgely Lecture Series.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology is a computer-based mapping tool that takes information from a database about a location, such as streets, buildings, water features, and terrain, and turns it into visual layers.  The ability to see geographic features and other data on a map is beneficial to professionals in a wide array of fields including environmental work, public safety, business, education, land use and health care.

GIS Day activities will begin at 9 a.m. with a welcome from Dagmar Budikova, director of Illinois State's Institute for Geospatial Mapping and Analysis (GEOMAP). 

• 9 a.m. to noon - displays and demonstrations of the use of GIS technology by University, local government and law enforcement personnel. 
• 11 a.m. - Signing of GIS Day proclamation by Bloomington Mayor Steve Stockton, Normal Mayor Chris Koos, McLean County Board Chairman Matt Sorensen, Illinois State University President Al Bowman and Illinois Wesleyan University President Richard Wilson.
• 1 -3:30 p.m. - Presentations and demonstrations of GIS technology used by Illinois State's GEOMAP, the City of Bloomington Township Assessor, the McLean County Regional Planning Commission, the Town of Normal and the Bloomington Police Department.
• 4 p.m. - Keynote address and 2008 Douglas Clay Ridgely Lecture by David Bennett, a faculty member in the Department of Geography at the University of Iowa.

The annual Douglas Clay Ridgley Lecture Series was established by George and Martha Means as part of the Ridgley Visiting Professorship of Geography, to honor Ridgley, a former faculty member at Illinois State Normal University and an early leader in the development of geography in the United States.

For more information on GIS Day and the Douglas Clay Ridgely Lecture Series visit www.geomap.ilstu.edu