Education Colloquium: A Creative Edge: Integrating Communities for Geospatial Training and Workforce Development

Nov. 28, 2007 • A NASA Goddard Education Colloquium featuring the iGETT project was held on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007. The colloquium abstract follows:

 

Remote sensing and geography both use an integrative spatial approach to foster an understanding of the Earth and its human-environment interactions; this approach enables problems of societal concern to be addressed holistically. Many of NASA’s most prominent remote sensing scientists have degrees in geography, and their wide network of associates includes a multitude of geographers. The country needs workers in a multitude of industries who can integrate remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Bringing together the communities of NASA remote sensing scientists and geographers for education and outreach is proving fertile ground for the advancement of a skilled national workforce and a geospatially literate society.

 

The National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE); Del Mar College; Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI); NASA’s Landsat staff; and the USGS Land Remote Sensing Program have been working together for almost three years to promote spatial thinking and geospatial skills in the context of workforce preparation. Osa Brand, NCGE Educational Outreach Director; Laura Rocchio and Jeannie Allen from NASA’s Landsat program; and Ken Bailey, Geospatial Technology Specialist from the U.S. Department of the Interior, will discuss highlights and lessons learned from the work of partnering across disciplines. They will focus primarily on a program funded by the National Science Foundation, “Integrated Geospatial Education and Technology Training (iGETT)" for community college and Tribal college faculty. Two NASA-supported programs will also be described as examples of ways in which remote sensing and GIS can support precollege geospatial education.

Other news.