GIS in Action 2021: Full Schedule

Welcome to the 29th annual GIS in Action Conference!

This year’s GIS in Action conference may look quite a bit different from years past but promises to be one that will engage and inspire you in all the ways that you expect and some ways that will surprise you! This year’s important and timely theme, Resilience and Equity, provides attendees with an opportunity for discourse and growth. The program is packed with 4 keynote addresses, 6 topical tracks, 7 workshops, a map gallery, as well as time for networking. We have 16 sponsors and over 250 people registered!

We’re excited to feature keynote speaker Annita Lucchesi who serves as the Executive Director of Sovereign Bodies Institute and will discuss her work as the caretaker of the MMIW database on day 1. On day 2, we’ll feature keynote speakers Steven Hoffert, Jeff Frkonja, and Colleen Miller as they discuss the importance of geospatial data sharing, collaboration, and coordination for delivering government services equitably and effectively. For the day 3 keynote, Nicole Franklin will unpack the use of GIS for equity and social justice, and on day 4 Karsten Vennemann will illustrate how open and fair access to spatial information and open software are transforming our world.

The conference offers something for everyone with the presentation tracks of: Building Your GIS Program, Critical GIS, Emergency Response, Technology, and Workforce Development. Several specialized sessions will focus on meeting the needs of Emerging Professionals and offer a lively way to grow your network. The annual Student Showcase session reveals innovative approaches to geospatial problem solving year after year.

The 2021 Conference Committee, composed of members from the Oregon & SW Washington URISA (ORURISA) and the Cascadia Region of ASPRS (American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing), has been innovating and tirelessly working to bring you the array of informative keynote addresses, workshops, and presentations. Many thanks to Alexa Todd (Chair) and the entire conference committee including Ben Brady, Claire Brumbaugh-Smith, Dave Brown, Matthew Freid, Marcus Glass, Tara Kaur, Jesse King, Lauren McKinney, Ashley Moran, David Percy, Neil Revello, Cy Smith, Shivon Van Allen, and many others involved in the planning and delivery of this exciting event.

We look forward to meeting you at the 2021 conference and continuing to grow this vibrant and strong GIS community!

Theresa Burcsu, President, Oregon-Southwest Washington URISA Chapter

Robert Hairston-Porter, President, Cascadia Region ASPRS

Accessing the Plenaries, Sessions, and Socials

For access to plenaries, sessions, and socials, the link to the Zoom meeting will appear in Sched 10 minutes before the session start time. Click Video Stream to join the meeting, as shown in the images below.
You can change sessions or re-enter a session by returning to the schedule.

8:00am PDT

Building GIS Solutions

Digital Engagement with Interactive GIS Solutions
Morgan Sapia
During these unprecedented times, being able to build trust and encourage transparency while digitally engaging with community members, is more important than ever before. But how can you do this in a streamlined way with tools you currently have? During this session, Esri will share examples and best practices of using GIS enabled systems to build trust, increase transparency, and utilize the community to achieve city goals

Empowering Context, Collaboration, and Community with High-Res Aerial Imagery & GIS
Carrie Wiley
2020 was a challenging and devastating year nonetheless. It changed the way we work and perhaps even the way we view the world. However, in the midst of these challenges, the GIS industry proved pivotal in keeping our nation safe. GIS and location technology rose to the occasion and demonstrated their importance to the world around us. So, in 2021, how do we rebuild? Digital transformation has enabled GIS teams across industries to continue serving the public, even while everything around us is changing. Emergency response teams assisting with protests, assessor’s offices completing annual tax appraisals, and even urban development project teams working while social distancing — more departments than ever are using frequently updated, high-resolution imagery-as-a-service and location content to solve problems and prepare for the future.

Moderators

Dr. Nicholas Kohler

University of Oregon

Dr. Kohler teaches courses in remote sensing, geospatial data science, andhuman-environment relations at the University of Oregon. His research concerns natural andcultural world heritage management and conservation, land use change related to economicdevelopment, environmental monitoring... Read More →

Speakers

Carrie Wiley

Strategic Account Manager - Government, Nearmap

Carrie Wiley, GISP, is a Technical Sales Engineer at Nearmap and serves as a key technical advisor and solution advocate for Nearmap focusing on AEC technologies. With a civil engineering-geospatial background, Carrie brings over a decade of experience in applying GIS and CAD technologies... Read More →

Morgan Sapia

Account Executive, Esri

Morgan Sapia is an Account Executive promoting smart community engagement at Esri. Morgan helps customers and partners, across local government and private sectors, understand and implement Esri’s smart GIS software and solutions. Morgan received a Bachelor of Science degree in... Read More →

Tuesday April 20, 2021 8:00am - 8:50am PDT
Zoom

Building Your GIS Program, Speakers

Keywords Asset management, Cartography, Critical GIS, Emergency response, Esri, LiDAR, OR-URISA, Planet GIS, Remote sensing, Smart cities, Sustainability, Technology, Utilities, Wildfire
Audience Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Technical, Management, Young Professional/Student

3:00pm PDT

Workshop: GLOBE Observer: An example for using community science data to build and maintain your GIS capacity

Workshops require separate registration. To participate in this workshop, signup here by Friday, April 16.

The aim of this workshop is to present the latest developments in which community and citizen science are creating and contributing open-access geospatial data. With the proliferation of mobile technology that are location-enabled, there are emerging opportunities to teach foundational geospatial concepts, engage communities in quality-controlled data collection, and developing the ‘people’ component of a geographic information system (GIS). To demonstrate a process for using a citizen science tool, you will be introduced and use a mobile app developed by the NASA-supported Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program. Weather and local regulations permitting, you can go outside and collect data related to tree height, land cover, and clouds. Then we will explore and compare this type of data to authoritative geospatial data maintained by local, state, and federal organizations. Finally, we will facilitate a discussion on recommendations for key areas in which communities could continue involvement in building and maintaining maps, GIS, and the needed open access data. This workshop is sponsored by OregonView.

Speakers

Peder V Nelson

Oregon State University

Wednesday April 21, 2021 3:00pm - 4:50pm PDT
Zoom

Workshop, Workshop

Keywords Conservation, Database Administration, Ethics, Equity, LiDAR, Mobile apps, Open source, Planet GIS, Remote sensing, Smart cities, Social justice, Sustainability, Technology, Wildfire
Audience Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Technical, Management, Young Professional/Student

10:00am PDT

Planet GIS

Better Water Management Through the Use of Remote Sensing
Mischa Hey
Water is increasingly becoming a rare and valuable resource throughout the western US. Remote sensing data and associated analytics can expand spatial intelligence about water availability, transport, storage, and use. This presentation will give an overview of three projects designed to quantify and map components of the hydrologic cycle through remote sensing and spatial analytics: 1) Quantification of Snow Water Equivalency using lidar and hyperspectral imagery, 2) Updating and refining the National Hydrologic Dataset and Watershed Boundary Dataset from high resolution lidar-derived elevation
data, 3) Quantifying storage capacity of stream, rivers and lakes through volumetric analysis and integration of bathymetric lidar and multibeam sonar. Challenges and techniques in LiDAR processing will also be discussed as a common thread between projects. Time will be available for Q&A.

Using Location Intelligence to detect, delimit, and eradicate the first introduction of the Asian Giant Hornet in the United States
Landon Udo
During the summer of 2020 the Washington State Department of Agriculture(WSDA) Pest Program designed and engaged in a survey and eradication effort to combat the first ever Asian Giant Hornet infestation in the United States. During every step of the survey process Location Intelligence and GIS played a crucial role to plan, conduct and analyze every aspect of the program. Through the use of ESRI's ArcGIS Online, Collector app, Storymap, dashboard, Geoform and the data collection tool iFormbuilder; data was able to be created, shared and monitored in near real-time as the scope of the survey evolved over the summer and fall. By utilizing this vast array of location technology WSDA was able to detect, delimit and ultimately successfully eradicate the first Asian Giant Hornet nest in the U.S. This presentation will focus on the overall survey effort, the spatial tools involved and the crucial cooperative effort between WSDA, the United States Department of Agriculture and a vast network of dedicated and hard-working citizen scientists. Work will continue for many years to come in order to continue to combat this invasive pest but our first year’s success gives us hope we have the correct processes and technological tools in place to hopefully build on our accomplishments.

Moderators

Debbie Blackmore

Speakers

Mischa Hey

Senior Domain Expert, Quantum Spatial

Mischa Hey has broad experience and technical skills in remote sensing analysis, in particular the development of feature extraction techniques using combined LiDAR and spectral datasets, including leveraging hyperspectral imagery to delineate land cover characterization of interest... Read More →

Landon Udo

Location Intelligence Manager, Washington State Department of Agriculture

Thursday April 22, 2021 10:00am - 10:50am PDT
Zoom

Technology, Speakers

Keywords Cartography, Esri, Mobile apps, Online application, Planet GIS, Technology
Audience Intermediate