Upcoming UD GIS Coffee Hour Meeting
Presentation: New ArcGIS apps: ArcGIS Pro and Insights for ArcGIS, Geri Miller, Esri (Philadelphia, PA)
Date: Tue October 10, 2017 | Time: 10:00 to 11:30 am
Location: Pearson Hall, Faculty Commons
Welcome to GIS at UD!
UD community members have been working with GIS for over 25 years. Today, GIS is used in some way in most colleges and departments on campus. Support for GIS at UD is sponsored by units in the Library and Information Technologies.
News & Events
December 8: Coffee Hour!
On Tuesday, December 8, from 10am-11:30am, UD GIS will host a coffee hour via Zoom.
The Zoom link will become active on the day of the meeting.
MEETING AGENDA
– GIS presentation by Robert Ddamulira (see details below)
– UD GIS Day 2020 (post-event report)
Roundtable discussion
PRESENTATION
Title: The spatial-temporal dynamics of forest cover loss amidst oil development in Hoima district of Uganda, East Africa
Description: The oil and gas sector has been recognized globally as one of the leading causes of environmental degradation including deforestation (forest cover loss), climate change and the associated loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, limited empirical research has been done on understanding the relationship between deforestation and the implementation of oil development policy in tropical countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. We used web-mapping analytical tools including Global Forest Watch database and LandTrendr in Google Earth Engine (LTGEE) to assess the spatial-temporal dynamics of deforestation in Hoima district between 1995 and 2019. This enabled us to understand how the implementation of Uganda’s 2006 commercial oil development policy may have contributed to forest cover loss. We also examined secondary data from population and agricultural censuses as well as oil sector environmental impact assessments to assess the role of direct (agricultural expansion) and indirect (population growth) deforestation drivers. Our results showed that prior to implementing the commercial oil development policy in Hoima district (1995-2006), annual deforestation was declining at a rate of -1.9% annually and agriculture was largely of a short-term nature. However, since the implementation of Uganda’s commercial oil development policy (2007- 2019), annual deforestation rates now stand at +34% per annum. Using a Species Area Relationship
model, we estimate that approximately 18 species of trees have been lost in the region since the start of implementing the commercial oil development policy in Hoima district.
2020 Inaugural UD Student Competition for Geospatial Data Visualization / Map Design
UD students at all levels are invited to enter the university-wide competition for achievements in the art and science of mapping geospatial data. The competition is sponsored and administered by the Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences (GEOG) and the Data Science Institute (DSI) at UD.
PRIZES
- Cash awards and acknowledgement certificates for a winner ($300) and a runner-up ($200)
- Competitive entries will be featured on the competition webpage and at UD GIS Day (Nov 18, 2020), and used by UD educators as examples of excellent map design (with permission)
ELIGIBILITY
- The map entry must have been completed between Sep 1, 2019 and Sep 30, 2020 (roughly, the past academic year)
- You do not have to be a student at the time of the submission, but you must have been a UD student when you completed the map
- Students may submit multiple entries, but may only win one prize
- Group work is eligible, but the maximum number of students working on a single map is two
JUDGING CRITERIA
Map entries are judged on clarity, originality, and creativity in both the art and the science of mapping, while appropriate use of geospatial data and technologies is a must. All entries are judged by an expert panel of geospatial data scientists at UD. The award will be announced near the end of October.
HOW TO SUBMIT
Entries must be emailed to Andrea Trungold (andreat@udel.edu) by Oct 1, 2020.
An entry must consist of two parts:
- a static map in a common digital artwork format (e.g., pdf, jpg)
- a short statement (no more than one page), listing your name, academic affiliation, degree program (e.g., B.S., M.A., Ph.D.), primary email contact, and a concise paragraph (no more than 200 words) providing relevant background info about the map, e.g. its purpose, designed usage, highlights of mapping methods, any words of caution, etc.
Further questions about the competition can be directed to Dr. Jing Gao ( jinggao@udel.edu ).
