The Education and Training Lab in the Columbia Center has been upgraded! The upgrade includes an expansion from fifteen to twenty-four user stations each equipped with a Dell Precision Workstation running on the Windows 7 operating system.

The Education and training lab is designed to provide training for local and regional professionals and individuals interested in the use of geospatial technology for emergency response, natural resource management, and economic development. Customized classes and training are offered for the Texas Military Forces, law enforcement officials, mapping agencies, public schools students (K-12), activity groups such as the Boy and Girl Scouts of America or to anyone interested in learning about geospatial technology.

Training courses offered by the Columbia Center include:

• Introduction to GPS Applications – Level I
• Introduction to GPS Applications – Level II
• Introduction to GPS data Collection with ArcPad
• Introduction to Plume Modeling
• Economic Risk Analysis for GIS Users
• Geocoding with ArcGIS 9.3.1
• Introduction to Metadata
• The United States National Grid: Theory and Use
• Introduction to ArcGIS I (ESRI Certified)
• Introduction to ArcGIS II (ESRI Certified)

With first line computing resources, the latest in geospatial software, state-of-the-art Audio Visual capabilities and the ability to simulate Emergency Operations Center functionality, the Columbia Center training lab is well situated to provide public and private agencies with a high quality training experience. Come visit our training lab at our new location on the SFA campus McKibben Building Room 304.

The Founder's Award was created by SCAUG in 1990 to recognize agencies or individuals that have made contributions enhancing the importance of geospatial science and advancing the use of GIS. Specifically, this award was presented to the Columbia Center "For Being Instrumental In Changing the Future of GIS in the South Central United States."

"It is always gratifying to be recognized by one's peers." said PR Blackwell, Director of the Columbia Center. "This award reflects the impact of the Columbia Center Staff on the regional geospatial community over many years."

"We feel lucky to have the resources available to accomplish the things that we have," said Charles Ashton, Geospatial Trainer II for the Columbia Center. "Without such a vast and dynamic team of workers, these advancements in GIS would not have been possible."

The Columbia Center combines innovation with training and outreach to support the geospatial activities of organizations across the region.

"The opportunity to help others in the GIS field of our region in completing GIS training and application development has been an award in itself," said Johnny Brown, Geospatial Applications Specialist II for the Columbia Center.

The 4th Annual East Texas Geospatial Conference hosted by the Columbia Regional Geospatial Service Center System was held January 26-30 2010 at the Baker Pattillo Student Center and The Columbia Regional Geospatial Service Center on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus to present and discuss regional applications and issues. There were approximately 90 conference attendees as well as students from across campus who attended the paper and poster sessions.

The conference began with an Introduction to Remote Sensing workshop, sponsored by TexasView, held on Tuesday and Wednesday (January 26th and 27th). Gayla Mullins of Texas Natural Resource Information Systems (TNRIS) and Teresa Howard from The Center for Space Research (CRS), University of Texas at Austin led the workshop. They provided an overview of remote sensing techniques. Workshop attendees included conference attendees, SFASU faculty and graduate students from three colleges. The workshop was held in the new training lab of the Columbia Center located in the McKibben Education building room 324.

Other workshops held during the conference included an Introduction to Plume Modeling led by LaRied Oates of the CRGSC, ArcPad led by Jason Grogan of the CRGSC and Weather Mapping Mashups presented by Charles Ashton of the CRGSC. Conference attendees were able to visit vendor booths and an array of information booths set up to promote interdisciplinary programs offered by campus departments in the Grand Ballroom at the Baker Pattillo Student Center during the conference.

On Wednesday, the keynote speaker was Jim Scott, the Director of Texas Natural Resource Information Systems, Austin, Texas. The plenary talk was followed by organized sessions included thinking about cartography in the GIS world, career potentials in the GIS world, issues and challenges in the GIS world and public safety opportunities in the GIS world. Dinner that evening followed a project poster display in the Grand Ballroom.

The evening presentation was given by Todd Ulrich, Realworldfx.com. Todd provided an overview of his journey in developing large physical format globes of the earth using processed remotely sensed data.

Thursday lunch session included the second keynote presentation by Dr. Theresa Coble (second from the left) who discussed the Preserve America Grant project as part of the Celebrating Community Partners event held in conjunction with the East Texas Geospatial Conference. In addition Dr. Steven Bullard, Dean College of Forestry and Agriculture discussed new initiatives for the College. Thursday’s conference sessions featured topics ranging from geospatial tools and models for interpreting landscapes in the GIS world, to cultural landscapes and interpretation in the GIS world and managing natural resources using geospatial applications.

The last session, moderated by by P.R. Blackwell, director of the CRGSC, discussed the status, initiatives and research of the Columbia Regional Geospatial Service Center System. Panelists included Kevin Mulligan-director, Center for Geospatial Technology-Texas Tech University; Raed AlDouri- director of University of Texas at El Paso Regional Geospatial Service Center; Joe Kruger – Associate Director of Lamar University Geospatial lab and Ken Tobin, director of Center for Earth and Environmental Sciences- Texas A&M International University. This session allowed each partner in the CRGSC system to discuss their status, initiatives and research.

Following that was a National Weather Service Beta workshop at the CRGSC on Friday and a WADA vs. SAR workshop for a focus group on Saturday. The weather workshop focused on developing tools to aid NWS scientists in preparing weather forecast maps for briefings. The SAR vs WADA workshop provided participants with an overview and field exercise focusing on protocols to be followed during a SAR activity and protocols to be employed during a Wide Area Damage Assessment (WADA) mission.

Ever since its establishment in 2005, The Columbia Center had been strategically located in downtown Nacogdoches, right on the historic “square.” This location provided for a highly visible and symbolic presence; a statement that the geospatial services provided by the center are indispensible to the East Texas region. Ironically, The Columbia Center’s success in supporting emergency planning and response, economic development, and natural resource management in East Texas has necessitated the need for more space.

To accomodate this need, the Columbia Regional Geospatial Service Center has relocated to the McKibben Building (formerly the Elementary Education Department) on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus, sharing the third floor with the School of Honors. The move, which took place during December, allows combining the Forest Resource Initiative (FRI) and the Center for Economic Development and Research (CEDAR) with the Columbia Center. This brings all three operational areas of the Columbia Center Mission together in one location.

The new facility provides:

• Substantially more space (over 10,000 sq feet)
• Better utilization of space
• Larger more convenient training lab
• Expanded student work area
• Superior network connectivity
• Expanded server-room capacity
• Better integration of educational initiatives
• A platform to expand support to the community and the region

The Columbia Center is proud of the new facilities and ready to serve the public in a bigger way!

Ever wish your favorite breakfast joint would offer a GIS combo meal? That way, as you chomp down on that sausage biscuit, you could revel in the beauty of the latest satellite imagery of the Lone Star State.

Here at the Columbia Center, I am sad to announce that we are unable to offer you a bacon and egg croissant. As of today, however, we will be serving up daily MODIS imagery of Texas via our TexasView.org web presence. We’ve made a cozy spot for a thumbnail of the latest imagery at the top of the right column of this page. Click on it, but take CAUTION: Contents are AWESOME!

Or you can click here, if you don’t feel like moving your mouse that far because you haven’t had your coffee yet…