Geospatial Information Society at UCF

"A map is a symbolized representation of geographical reality, representing selected features or characteristics, resulting from the creative effort of its author's ex*****on of choices, and is designed for use when spatial relationships are of primary relevance same". - International Cartographic Association, 2003

THE GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION SOCIETY IS SEEKING NEW STUDENT MEMBERS. Are you interested in making a difference in your local community and internationally? Are you interested in learning new technology and/or drone technology? Then we have the club for you! The Geospatial Information Society at UCF is a new geospatial sciences club that provides opportunities to students from training to engaging in international mapping initiatives – regardless of experience with geographic information systems. We believe that every student, from a first-year to a doctoral student, has the power to make a difference in the world and save lives and our environment. We welcome all majors and all levels of education. In the past year, our club has been highlighted at several high-profile GIS events including the 2016 White House Mapathon under the Obama Administration and at the 2017 Association of American Geographers mapathon at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, MA. During these projects we focused on malaria prevention and HIV/AIDS prevention by mapping previously unmapped areas of the world allowing the PeaceCorps and other U.S. agencies to deliver supplies to prevent and mitigate outbreaks of these diseases. We also have leadership opportunities available for the upcoming academic year. If you are interested in learning more about the club and leadership opportunities, please contact our President, Rhena South ([email protected]) or our Secretary, Ian Biazzo ([email protected])!

“Geographers never get lost. They just do accidental field work.”

Nicholas Chrisman, Professor of Geomatic Sciences, Université Laval

“Geography is just physics slowed down, with a couple of trees stuck in it.”

Terry Pratchett in The Last Continent

Spatial Arrangements Quotes

“Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things.”

Tobler’s First Law of Geography
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“Knowing where things are, and why, is essential to rational decision making”

Jack Dangermond, Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI)

“Maps are like campfires – everyone gathers around them, because they allow people to understand complex issues at a glance, and find agreement about how to help the land.”

Sonoma Ecology Center

“When our maps do not fit the territory, when we act as if our inferences are factual knowledge, we prepare ourselves for a world that isn’t there. If this happens often enough, the inevitable result is frustration and an ever-increasing tendency to warp the territory to fit our maps. We see what we want to see, and the more we see it, the more likely we are to reinforce this distorted perception, in the familiar circular and spiral feedback pattern.”

Professor Harry L. Weinberg, 1959 in Levels of Knowing and Existence: Studies in General Semantics

“I’ve always been fascinated by maps and cartography. A map tells you where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re going — in a sense it’s three tenses in one.”

Peter Greenaway,
Welsh film director in an interview for Film Comment, May/June 1990

“A number of astronauts, and then all of us who saw the photography from space, marveled at how much the Florida peninsula, meandering Mississippi, the islands of Britain, and the boot of Italy resembled the maps everyone had grown up with. We had taken it for granted that maps were faithful reflections of reality; but we were somehow amazed when reality turned out to be true to the maps."
-John Noble Wilford, The Mapmakers

“Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today.”
--Robert McKee

If you're interested in Public Safety/Emergency Management, come check out the Seminole County's Touch A Truck event tomorrow from 9am- 1pm!!

TOMORROW: Join Seminole County's Office of Emergency Management along with partner agencies for a showcase of disaster response vehicles. For more information, call 407-665-5102.

EVENT HOURS: 9:00AM-1:00PM
LOCATION: Sanford Riverwalk/Fort Mellon Park

ONGOING EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE DAY:
Longwood K9 Demonstration (every 15 minutes)
Ruff McGruff Meet and Greets
Smokey the Bear Meet and Greets
Orlando Health Helicopter Tours/Demos
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office Helicopter Tours/Demos

SCHEDULED EVENTS:
10:00AM: SCFD Home Fire Sprinkler Demonstration
11:00AM: SCFD Home Fire Sprinkler Demonstration
12:00PM: SCFD Home Fire Sprinkler Demonstration
12:00PM: Wildfire Helicopter Bucket Demonstration (Bambi Bucket)