URISA's GISCorps Project News & Announcements

GIS Professionals Volunteering for a Better World

May 2018

A Message From the Core Committee

Greetings Volunteers and Friends:

We had another busy quarter and most recently launched our 229th project! That brings the total number of deployed volunteers to 1,644 volunteers in 71 countries. We are continually amazed at our volunteers' dedication to service.

Since February, our volunteers have started work on seven new projects for organizations and causes around the globe. One of our volunteers will be travelling to the Central African Republic (CAR) to conduct GIS training in June. Two other projects are also education-based, serving K-12 students in two separate US communities. Several projects involve building ArcGIS Online (AGO) web apps and story maps; while other volunteers will be conducting data mining and data cleansing.

Since last quarter, three projects have concluded: our third polio eradication project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), a project with NAPSG for Cyclone Gita, and a web app build-out with the Puente Institute and Grand Staircase Escalante Partners. See the Featured Projects below.

As reported in the last newsletter, in partnership with Esri, GISCorps launched a new program called the GIS Service Pledge. Many GISCorps volunteers have responded to this program and started serving local and international communities in the past few months. More details about the Pledge are posted below.

Thank you once again for your continued support of URISA's GISCorps. We are grateful to you and all of our volunteers for the remarkable contributions you make.

With warmest regards,
GISCorps Core Committee: Dianne Haley, German Whitley, Leslie Zolman, Allen Ibaugh, Carol Kraemer, David Hansen, and Shoreh Elhami

P.S. Please email [email protected] if you wish to be removed from this list.

Deployment and Partnership News

Missions in Progress
A total of four missions are currently in progress with several more in the works. Detailed accounts of these projects are posted on our Ongoing Projects Page.

Featured Projects

Volunteers Participate in Mapathon Hosted by WHO/CDC

Over the weekend of 08-March-2018, 309 volunteers from around the world participated in a Mapathon to map structures in Tanganyika Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in support of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The event was hosted on the World Health Organization's (WHO) ArcGIS Online Platform with information about the event being shared via Esri Hub. Read more about the project here .

Mobile App Development for Grand Staircase Escalante Partners
This project was initiated by Grand Staircase Escalante Partners (GSEP) and Puente Institute as an effort to collect data from the public on observations and disturbances within the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Volunteer Wincy Poon was recruited for this project. See her full volunteer profile below, and read more about this evolving project here .

Volunteers Assist in Cyclone Gita Image Crowdsourcing
In February, Cyclone Gita impacted areas of the South Pacific including New Zealand with hurricane-force winds and rain. The NZ GIS for Emergency Management Community (NZGIS4EM) requested assistance from GISCorps volunteers in crowdsourcing damage photos for an online situational awareness map. Eleven volunteers contributed their time. Read more here.

GIS Service Pledge

Since the launch of the GIS Service Pledge, 24 volunteers have been granted a free personal use license. You can see the names and locations of those volunteers in this web map . Special thanks to long-time volunteer Troy Wirth for helping us manage the web map updates. If you know of a worthy cause that could benefit from your GIS expertise, review the guidelines and apply for the Pledge here . Send any questions specific to the GIS Service Pledge to: [email protected] .

Conference Announcements

Esri UC 2018

As always, URISA's GISCorps will be represented at the Esri UC in San Diego, CA July 9-12. On Wednesday, we will have our annual lunch from 11:30-12:30 (SBCC Room 25 B). We'd love to meet you all. Several members of the Core Committee will be in attendance, and we will have a booth in the Sustainable World Community Expo area. Come say hello! Watch your email for more announcements on how to get involved with GISCorps at the Esri UC.

GIS-Pro & CalGIS 2018
URISA's 2018 GIS-Pro conference will take place in Palm Springs, California on October 9-12 with Jack Dangermond as the keynote speaker. This year's event is a partnership with CalGIS and is expected to be bigger and better than ever! As in previous years, there will be GISCorps gatherings and presentations. This year, there will also be a Silent Auction to benefit GISCorps! Check out the substantial educational content and register soon!

Volunteer Profiles

Name: Wincy Poon, GISP

Organization: City of Hinesville, Georgia

GISCorps mission(s)/Year served: Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners Mobile App Development - 2017 (profiled above)
Share your experience about the mission: My first GISCorps mission was to develop a mobile app for Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners and Puente Institute to record observations and disturbances within the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The goal was to increase public awareness and help formulate better management policies and restoration efforts at the national monument. It was a great experience and gave me an opportunity to connect and work with people outside my region.
Anything else to share: I have learned a lot from the project and am looking forward to more volunteer opportunities in the future.

Thank you for your continued support of URISA's GISCorps!

In This Issue

Message from the Core Committee

Featured Projects

GIS Service Pledge

Volunteer Profiles

URISA's GISCorps Core Committee

Shoreh Elhami

Dianne Haley

Dave Hansen

Allen Ibaugh

Carol Kraemer

German Whitley

Leslie Zolman

www.giscorps.org

Email: [email protected]

Twitter:@giscorps

Get Social with GISCorps!

Please support GISCorps with a tax-deductible donation in 2018. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Partner Organizations

...and many more

News from Friends of GISCorps

Esri:

Nonprofit Organization Program

ArcGIS Online for Organizations

URISA Education Calendar

For more information, visit

www.urisa.org

Shopping for GISCorps' Stuff?

Do you find yourself in need of a new T-shirt, coffee mug, ball cap or tote bag? Do you want to help promote GISCorps' good work? Well, you are in luck! You can now find various GISCorps items at our online shop.