CORRESPONDENCE from WV GIS COORDINATOR:
(1) Click here to view letter regarding formal recognition of WVAGP
(2) Click here to view slide presentation on WV GIS Coordination and GIS Strategic Planning

The annual report is submitted in accordance with the bylaws and summarizes important work done by the membership, board, and committees from 15 March 2007 to 9 June 2008.

View Report                View Presentation

We need your feedback!  If you have not done so, please complete the 2008 WV GIS Conference Survey and WVAGP Membership Survey. 

Suveys Link: http://www.wvagp.org/survey.asp

The 2008 West Virginia GIS Conference was a resounding success!  A photo gallery of the event can be seen here:
http://wvagp.org/conference/2008/gallery.asp

Speaker presentations for the paper sessions (June 11-12, 2008) of the 2008 WV GIS Conference can be veiwed at http://wvagp.org/conference/papers.asp.

During the June 12 WVAGP board meeting, the following new officers were elected.  The term of office is from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009.

Jennings Starcher, President
Larry Evans, Vice- President
Kurt Donaldson, Secretary
Katherine Paybins, Treasurer

The GIS Certification Institute's (GISCI) Grandfathering Provision Ends December 31, 2008.  Click here for more information.

The WV GIS Coordinator's Office administered an informational opinion survey at the 2008 GIS Conference as a preliminary step in the state's process of developing a new State Strategic Plan for GIS. Anyone in the WV GIS community was welcome to participate, and for those who didn't make it to the conference or would like to provide more detailed answers, the survey can be accessed online here (Word or Adobe pdf).

Word Document: Download
PDF: Download

Completed surveys can be mailed to:

Katherine Kapo

WV Office of GIS Coordinator

1124 Smith Street, Ste. LM-10

Charleston, WV 25301

Alternatively, surveys can be emailed to kkapo@gis.state.wv.us, and survey results will remain anonymous beyond the WV Coordinator.

Please return your surveys by Friday, June 27^th. Thanks to all who participated, and updates will follow.

Dear geospatial technology folks,

Also, in order to avoid mass mailings we have created a new Google Group for MoSpatial. By joining the Google Group you can receive email notifications about upcoming MoSpatial events and discuss geospatial technologies with other members. You can join at http://groups.google.com/group/mospatial

I hope to see you at the next meeting.

Sincerely,

Jesse Rouse
jesse.rouse@mail.wvu.edu

Time/Place: Tuesday, June 10, 3:30-5:00 pm, Holiday Inn Charleston House, Charleston, WV

The WV GIS Coordinator would like to invite any interested GIS professionals and other GIS stakeholders to participate in a workshop to discuss the modernization of the State Strategic Plan for GIS.  No conference registration or membership of any type is required to participate. The WV GIS Policy Council will be overseeing the development of a new GIS strategic plan, in alignment with the Fifty States Initiative from the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC).  To ensure the success of the state plan, input from all GIS stakeholders and user groups is critical from the very beginning of the process.  The purpose of the workshop will be to provide an opportunity for the GIS community to communicate their needs and ideas for how coordination, development, and implementation of GIS technology can be improved and modernized in WV, before the strategic planning process formally begins. 

Katherine Kapo
WV GIS Coordinator
WV Office of State GIS Coordinator
1124 Smith St., Rm LM-10, The Greenbrooke Building
Charleston, WV 25301
Phone: (304) 558-4218 
Fax: (304) 558-4963
Email: kkapo@gis.state.wv.us

Annual Meeting:  Our next membership meeting is the annual meeting on Monday, June 9, 2008, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Charleston House, Charleston, WV.  At this meeting the WVAGP board and standing committees will present the annual report to the membership.  There is no registration fee to attend the annual meeting.  Non-members are welcome to attend the meeting but only members can vote on matters presented to the membership.

Cy Smith will be a keynote speaker for the 2008 WV GIS Conference.  He is currently the Oregon Statewide GIS Coordinator and President of the National States Geographic Information Council.  He is also a past member of the GISCI Board of Directors.

Katherine is a native of Charleston and is excited to return to work in the Mountain State as part of the WV geospatial community. She brings an interdisciplinary GIS background to the State Coordinator position. Katherine most recently worked as a graduate researcher and GIS teaching assistant while working towards a Ph.D. in Environmental Science at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.  Her dissertation research involves a novel application of GIS modeling and analysis to environmental risk assessment as a decision support tool for policymakers and watershed managers. Through her graduate research she has managed various projects and developed collaborative partnerships with USGS, The Procter & Gamble Co., the United Kingdom Environment Agency, and The Netherlands Institute for Public Health and the Environment where she was a Visiting Scientist.  Before graduate school, Katherine was a contract GIS Technician with the USGS Eastern Minerals Team in Reston, Virginia.  Her work there included the development of economical natural resource potential models using spatial analysis, geochemical modeling of New England stream sediments, as well as the compilation of various digitized geologic map products.   Katherine earned her B.A. in Biology from Kenyon College (Gambier, Ohio), where she conducted undergraduate GIS research in terrestrial ecology.  Her past work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals, and she has presented her research at national and international conferences. She looks forward to meeting and working with members of WVAGP to continue to improve GIS coordination and services in West Virginia.  Katherine lives with her husband, Rob Passmore, in Romance, WV, and in her spare time enjoys trail running, mountain biking, gardening, and reading.  She can be reached as of April 1^st at kkapo@gis.state.wv.us.

The WV Geospatial Community encourages GIS stakeholders and especially data producers to complete the user profile and all survey questions located on the Ramona GIS Inventory website.  This web-based inventory tool is part of a nationwide GIS inventory system supported by the National States Geographic Information Council.  If necessary, you will need to create a user account to complete this survey.  If you are the designated GIS contact for your organization, then please make sure that you coordinate the responses of all GIS personnel within your organization.  

All WVAGP members and exhibitors are asked to complete the 2008 roll call for your oganization.  Please submit your roll call report by May 1.  The report will be published in June and will be made available in electronic format to all WVAGP members and conference attendees.  The report will be published in June and will be made available in electronic format to all WVAGP members and conference attendees.  Click here for more information.