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K-State Today

October 14, 2015

University Consortium for Geographic Information Science Fellow Robert McMaster to discuss GIScience Initiatives at University of Minnesota

Submitted by Shawn Hutchinson

mcmaster

Robert McMaster, professor of geography, vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Education at the University of Minnesota, will present "Directions in GIScience Research" at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, in the K-State Student Union's Big 12 Room.

McMaster will discuss three major GI Science initiatives at the University of Minnesota, including the professional master's degree in GIScience, now nearly 20 years old; a new initiative on Geodesign coordinated between the GIS and School of Design faculty; and continued research and teaching activities revolving around GIScience and society.

McMaster has a sustained record of contributions to GIScience education and has long worked to advance GIS education through research, teaching, policy development and service to the GIScience community. Among many accomplishments, he has served as president of the U.S. Cartography and Geographic Information Society and was appointed to a three-year term on the National Research Council's Mapping Sciences Committee from 2005 to 2008. McMaster has been a longtime contributor to the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, or UCGIS, and has been both its president from 2008 to 2009 and chair of its research committee. In 2013, he was awarded the consortium's fellow status. He is currently serving a second term on the National Research Council's Board on Earth Sciences and Resources.

This presentation is sponsored by the geography department and the Beta Psi chapter of Gamma Theta Upsilon. Funding for McMaster's visit was provided by an Academic Excellence Award from the Office of the Provost and the Visiting Geographical Scholars program of the Association of American Geographers.