Deepwater Horizon at Rocket City Geospatial Conference
The fourth annual Rocket City Geospatial Conference (RCG) offers special sessions this year on key issues impacting the Southeastern United States. The conference will feature a special session on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill that affected the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year and continues to be one of the worst man-made disasters in history.
According to the announcement, kicking off this session will be Dr. Amy Merten, chief, Spatial Data Team, Office of Response and Restoration, of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Dr. Merten will be speaking on the Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA) project. She was one of the visionaries who created Geoplatform.gov, which supported mitigation efforts for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. "The environmental and economic impact to the region from the spill has been unprecedented and the RCG conference will offer a venue to discuss best practices of utilizing geospatial information for supporting local governments and private businesses," said Joe Francica, conference chairman.
In addition, RCG offers a special session on jobs and careers for both students and mid-career professionals. The conference is pleased to welcome David DiBiase as the keynote speaker. DiBiase is the director of the John A. Dutton E-Education Institute at The Pennsylvania State University. He is responsible for guiding the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences' strategic vision and planning in regards to online learning. In this capacity, he works with faculty members, administrators, stakeholders and Dutton Institute staff members to plan and implement online degree and certificate programs tailored to the needs of continuing adult professionals nationwide and worldwide. DiBiase is also a senior researcher with the National Geospatial Technology Center of Excellence (GeoTech Center), a member of the board for the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), and president of the GIS Certification Institute (GISCI). He was responsible for guiding the team that completed the Department of Labor's Geospatial Technology Competency Model and is the lead editor on the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science's (UCGIS) Geographic Information Science and Technology Body of Knowledge.
