Shashi Shekhar receives 2015 UCGIS Education Award

Dr. Shashi Shekhar, the McKnight Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Computer Science and MGIS faculty member at the University of Minnesota, has received the 2015 UCGIS Education Award. Dr. Shekhar was recognized for his many contributions to GIScience education. According to the UCGIS, In 2003, Dr. Shekhar co-authored a textbook on spatial databases (Prentice Hall, 2003), which has become a GIScience classic. It transformed our view of a GIS from a static map to a spatial database, which can yield many maps customized to individual users. The highly regarded book is used to teach spatial database topics around the world. To reach GIScience students beyond the Minnesota campus, Shashi recently co-developed and co-taught a massive open online course (MOOC), titled "From GPS and Google Maps to Spatial Computing" on Coursera. It attracted over 21,800 students from 182 countries. He's leveraged numerous service assignments and hundreds of speaking engagements to spread the word about GIScience. In his own classroom, he is an innovative teacher who engages his students with active-learning methods and original effective course design. He has mentored 75 graduate advisees, many of whom have risen to leadership roles in academia, industry, and government.

Hansen and Mueller receive 2013 MN GIS/LIS Consortium's Polaris Leadership Awards

Catherine Hansen, MGIS Faculty member, and Jane Mueller, MGIS graduate, have been recognized as the 2013 Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium's Polaris Leadership Award winners. The award recognizes active, established leaders in the geospatial profession who demonstrate a beacon of energy and creativity that inspires and guides the Minnesota GIS community. Congratulations to both Catherine and Jane for this achievement and many thanks for their devotion and contributions to the GIS community!

Robert McMaster honored as 2013 UCGIS Fellow

Robert McMaster, Professor of Geography, Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education and MGIS faculty member, has been named as a 2013 UCGIS Fellow. Dr. McMaster was recognized for his contribution to the advancement of geographic information science education and research. For more information about Dr. McMaster's contributions, see the description provided on the UCGIS Fellows page.

Interdisciplinary research team receives $8 million NSF grant for Terra Populus project

An interdisciplinary team, including MGIS faculty members Steven Manson and Shashi Shekhar, has been awarded a five-year, $8 million grant from the National Science Foundation to boost understanding of population-environment relationships on a global scale. The project, Terra Populus, is a collaboration of the Minnesota Population Center, the Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota Libraries, and faculty from the College of Liberal Arts and College of Science and Engineering, as well as Columbia University and the University of Michigan. For more information, see the University's news release on the Terra Populus project.

Harvey, Manson, Bauer, Shekhar and others Secure University-wide I-3 Award

Francis Harvey along with co-investigators Marvin Bauer (Forest Resources), Jonathan Foley (Ecology, Evolution and Behavior), Steve Manson (Geography), Steve Ruggles (MN Population Center/History) and Shashi Shekhar (Computer Science) have been awarded a $2.5 million Infrastructure Investment Initiative (I-3) award for their U-Spatial Initiative over the 2012-2017 period. Visit the U-Spatial web site to learn more about this campus-wide initiative in spatial science.

Robert McMaster receives 2010 UCGIS Education Award

Robert McMaster, Professor of Geography and Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education, is the recipient of the 2010 UCGIS Education Award. Dr. McMaster was recognized for his long history of service to the GIScience community in multiple leadership roles, his afflitation with the National Historical GIS project, and the innovative curriculum work he has accomplished at the University of Minnesota.

Craig inducted into URISA's GIS Hall of Fame

Will Craig, Associate Director of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs and MGIS Faculty Member, has been inducted into URISA's GIS Hall of Fame. The GIS Hall of Fame was established by the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) in 2005 to recognize and honor the most esteemed leaders of the geospatial community. For more information on Dr. Craig's impressive achievements, visit http://urisa.org/hall/craig.

Knight appointed to MGIS Graduate Faculty

Dr. Joe Knight, Assistant Professor of Forest Resources, was recently appointed to the MGIS graduate faculty. He specializes in the application of geospatial information technologies such as remote sensing, image processing, geographic information systems (GIS), and the global positioning system (GPS). For more information on Dr. Knight, visit his web page.