Fiscal Year 1998-1999 Annual Report

Teaching

University of Arkansas undergraduate and graduate students have a number of GIS/GPS courses available to them at CAST. These courses, taken along with related courses in cartography, remote sensing, image interpretation, photogrammetry, surveying, and spatial statistics, provide the student with a range of career options. GIS/GPS courses are open to students from any discipline who plan to use these technologies in their work and research. Almost 200 research and education computer accounts were issued to students this year. Access to CAST’s computer labs is of great benefit to both graduate and undergraduate students who attend GIS/GPS courses. A list of University of Arkansas GIS courses taught at CAST during FY 98-99 follows.

Vector GIS (taught by Dr. Fred Limp). Vector GIS provides an introduction to GIS applications in marketing, transportation, real estate, demographics, urban and regional planning, and related areas. Lectures focus on development of principles, paralleled by workstation-based laboratory exercises using Arc-node based software and relational databases.

Raster GIS (taught by Dr. Ken Kvamme). Raster GIS provides an introduction to spatial analyses in the natural sciences and resource management fields using GIS. Lectures focus on development of principles, paralleled by workstation-based laboratory exercises using raster-based software, relational databases, and exploratory data analysis.

Introduction to GRASS Applications (taught by Anne Gisiger; coordinated by Dr. Fred Limp). This course is an introduction to GIS problem solving using the Geographic Resource Analysis Support System (GRASS) software.

Introduction to Global Positioning System (taught by Mike Garner; coordinated by Dr. Fred Limp). Introduction to GPS introduces the student to navigation, georeferencing, and digital data collection using GPS receivers, data loggers, and laser technology for natural science and resource management. Components of NavStar GPS are used in the integration of digital information into various GIS platforms with emphasis on practical applications.

Information Technologies in Anthropology, Archaeology, Geography, Geology, and History (taught by Dori Gould; coordinated by Dr. Fred Limp). This course serves as an overview and introduction to a broad range of information technologies used in research in a wide range of disciplines. Topics include database management systems, GPS, GIS, spreadsheets, statistics, and publishing.

Information Systems in Anthropology, Archaeology, Geography, Geology, and History (taught by Dori Gould; coordinated by Dr. Fred Limp). This course explores detailed analysis of disciplines such as database management systems, GPS, GIS, spreadsheets, statistics, and publishing. GeoMedia, GPS, and Access are stressed. Homework assignments using PowerPoint and web pages are required.

Computer Mapping (taught by Brian Culpepper; coordinated by Dr. Fred Limp). The aim of this course is to familiarize students with computer aided drafting and design technologies and applications. This course stresses design and production of various map types on small and large computer systems. Students learn how to map socio-economic, climatic, vegetative, geologic, and other kinds of data.

Digital Remote Sensing (taught by Bruce Gorham; coordinated by Dr. Fred Limp). This class explores theoretical and practical aspects of the manipulation and interpretation of data recorded by earth-orbiting digital remote sensing platforms. Emphasis is placed on learning techniques of digital image enhancement and transformation including image geocoding and classification of multispectral image data in the study of environmental phenomena.

GIS for Business (taught by Brian Culpepper and Stephan Pollard; coordinated by Dr. Fred Limp). This introductory course covers the basic concepts of spatial analysis, desktop digital mapping, digital data, geocoding, address matching, relational database design, and cartographic practices employed by today's more progressive companies and marketing firms. This course covers business applications of GIS, industry methods, data sources, and interoperable applications are demonstrated within one specific GIS software. The course also includes a general survey of several different software and data that are designed for geo-business applications.

Students from all over the United States and overseas attend these professional short-courses. They come from a variety of backgrounds, such as:

• City of Fayetteville (Fayetteville, Arkansas).
• Behnke Associates (Cleveland, Ohio).
• Central and Southwest Service (Tulsa, Oklahoma).
• Washington County (Fayetteville, Arkansas).
• City of Kansas City (Kansas City, Missouri).
• Oklahoma State University, Department of Forestry (Stillwater, Oklahoma).
• Missouri Department of Transportation (Jefferson City, Missouri).
• Vanderbilt University, (Nashville, Tennessee).
• Cooperative Extension Service (Little Rock, Arkansas).
• Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission (Little Rock, Arkansas).
• Arkansas Health Department (Little Rock, Arkansas).
• Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (Little Rock, Arkansas).
• NRCS (Columbus, Ohio).
• Corps of Engineers (Little Rock, Arkansas).
• U.S. Forest Service (Oden, Arkansas).
• Royal Jordanian Geographic Centre (Amman, Jordan).
• Universita’ di Napoli Federico II (Napoli, Italy).

Environmental Dynamics Ph.D. Program. This program’s prime focus is human-environmental interactions within recent earth history. It stresses interdisciplinary regional analysis of geophysical, biological, climatic, and socio-cultural interactions and changes. The Program is an outgrowth of many years of successful research in human adaptations to past and present environments by faculty of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. Primarily, the program will be staffed by faculty from the Departments of Anthropology, Geography, and Geology and associated research institutes and labs: CAST, the Arkansas Water Resources Research Center, the Tree-Ring Lab, the Bioarchaeology Lab, and the Archaeology Lab.

Internship Program in Applied Spatial Information Technologies. CAST, in cooperation with the UAF Department of Anthropology, now offers an internship program in Applied Spatial Information Technologies. The emphasis is on the practical skills needed to prepare the candidate for careers in nonacademic environments including employment in consulting and other private sector firms or federal, state, or local government employment. This internship allows the candidate to gain hands-on experience in one or more areas of computer systems administration, remote sensing and GIS applications and data, use of GPS, and/or database design and management.

CAST Demonstration and Tour for National Merit Scholars. In October, a group of National Merit scholars and parents toured CAST and received an extensive demonstration and educational materials. Demonstrations on GIS 3D technologies, GPS, the GAP Project, and agriculture mapping and inundation were presented.

Data for the Arkansas Department of Education. On August 20, CAST's Shelby Johnson met with Reginald Wilson of the Arkansas Department of Education to present ArcView project data for school district boundaries, major roads, major cities, major streams, major water bodies, and county boundaries. This data will be used by the Arkansas Department of Education to track programs such as district report cards, lunch programs, grant programs, districts with networks, etc.

Girl Scouts visit CAST. Last summer, Shelby Johnson provided a CAST tour and demonstration for nine area Girl Scouts and three sponsors from Fayetteville, Siloam Springs, Harrison, Lowell, Eureka Springs, Bella Vista, Springdale, and Berryville. Central focus of the 14- to 16-year old girls will be to initiate a biological inventory for a campsite and to learn about careers in technology. They will explore bird, tree, and plant identification. They will do some basic work in ArcView, create web pages, and possibly produce a virtual trail guide.

EAST Training Program for High Schools. The EAST Project is an outgrowth of a highly successful model that was developed by Tim Stephenson of Greenbrier High School. From the beginning, the EAST project has stressed learning in combination with community service. Students use high tech tools to solve real problems in their own hometowns. High school students in the EAST program have developed emergency response systems for town fire departments, created new economical and efficient bus routes, and designed new parking lots for their schools. Each summer, teachers from Arkansas and surrounding states' high schools attend a two-week professional development workshop that includes GIS/GPS components. Each fall, high school teachers and students attend the weeklong Environmental and Spatial Technologies (EAST) GIS/GPS Training Camp at CAST facilities. This program is being rapidly expanded to include as many communities as possible.

Training the Trainers. In July of 1998, CAST Instructor Brian Culpepper taught a GeoMedia short-course at Intergraph Corporate Training Facility in Huntsville, Alabama. This three-day course was attended by 14 Information Technologies GIS professionals from across the United States, Canada, and Southeast Asia. This course served as a "train the trainers" course, and existing Intergraph trainers were asked to observe and evaluate the class and the training manual (both developed by CAST staff) in order raise the classroom standards within their own facility.

Thirteen States Math and Science Conference. In November, Dr. Fred Limp provided a presentation to a conference attended by regional directors of Math and Science schools from 13 states. Dr. Limp talked about spatial technologies and how these technologies could be used in their science curriculum. This conference was hosted by the Arkansas Math and Science School of Hot Springs.

Science Fair Students Visit CAST. In March, CAST staff provided a demonstration of GIS/GPS technologies to 40 junior high and high school students who were on campus to participate in this year's Regional Science Fair held at UAF.

Elementary School Students Tour CAST. This spring, CAST staff member Bruce Gorham, with the help of Brandon Bottomley, provided a demonstration for 40 fifth- and sixth-graders from Bates Elementary in Northwest Arkansas.

Presentation to Arkansas Educators. In August, CAST staff presented a GIS demonstration and discussion of CAST activities to ten educators from Hope, Texarkana, Russellville, and Fort Smith at Camp Clearfork, Arkansas.

High School Teachers are given GIS/GPS Overview. CAST's Michael Garner and Brian Culpepper provided a two-day GIS/GPS overview to a group of fifteen High School teachers from Arkansas and Louisiana in July of 1998. The teachers were given an overview of the basic GIS and GPS technologies and applications and then participated in a hands-on exercise. Trimble Navigation hand-held GPS GeoExplorer units were used. GeoMedia 2.0 software was used along with Washington County, Arkansas, datasets.

Gifted and Talented Students Visit CAST. In May, several CAST staff members provided a demo for a group of 53 gifted and talented 8th-graders (and accompanying teachers) from Fuller Junior High School of Little Rock. They received a general tour of CAST with specific demos in 3D visualization and hands-on work using Intergraph GeoMedia. CAST staff members were assisted by Ben Farley, a student from Fayetteville High School FASST Lab (EAST program).

A Group of 50 High School Students Tour CAST. CAST staff hosted a group of 50 thirteen to fifteen year-olds from various areas of Arkansas. These students are visiting several Arkansas universities in an effort to gain information about the advantages of higher education.

American Association for Advancement of Science. In July, CAST's Director Fred Limp served as a program reviewer for the American Association for the Advancement of Science's review of the University of Wyoming's Spatial Data and Visualization Center (SDVC). SDVC received $1.4 million from NSF-EPSCOR to create an on-line geodata center and to develop geologic visualization capabilities.