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Tuesday, April 16, 2002

GIS expert, UC professor Goodchild to speak at Lab on Thursday

Michael Goodchild, professor of geography at University of California, Santa Barbara, will speak on "Augmenting Geographic Reality: Origins and Evolution of Geographic Information Systems," at 3 p.m. Thursday in the Jemez and Cochiti rooms of the J. Robert Oppenheimer Study Center at Technical Area 3.

A reception at 4 p.m., also in the study center follows his talk.

Goodchild is one of the most prominent researchers in the field of geographic information systems (GIS) and is a superb speaker for a general science audience, according to Paul Rich the Lab's GIS team leader in Environmental Dynamics and Spatial Analysis (EES-10).

GIS provides capabilities for organizing, analyzing and displaying information related to specific geographic locations, Rich said. Goodchild's talk will expound on three developmental stages of GIS from the time of its conception in the 1960s to present day.

"This is an outstanding opportunity to gain a perspective on the origins, evolution and future of GIS from a luminary in the field, at a time when GIS is playing an increasingly important role at the Lab," said Rich.

Rich noted that the Laboratory recently signed a memorandum of understanding with UC, Santa Barbara to improve collaborations between the Lab and the university.

Goodchild also is chair of the Executive Committee for the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, as well as associate director of the Alexandria Digital Library project and director of NCGIA's Varenius project. He also is chair of the National Research Council's Mapping Science Committee.

He received his bachelor's degree in physics from Cambridge University in 1965; he earned a doctoral degree in geography from McMaster University, Canada in 1969. In 1999 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Laval University, also in Canada.

For more information contact Rich at 7-1850 or write to pmr@lanl.gov by electronic mail.

--Lecole Trujillo

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