WKU Geoscience Graduates
Publish Results Of GIS Research
August 02, 2004
Bowling Green, Ky. - Rhonda Pfaff and J. Alan Glennon, two recent graduates from the geoscience master's program in Western Kentucky University's Department of Geography and Geology, recently published results of their research about groundwater contamination problems in the Mammoth Cave watershed.
Pfaff works for Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), the world's largest developer and promoter of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) software, in Redlands, Calif., as an ArcGIS documentation product specialist. Glennon is a doctoral student in geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and was the 2000 recipient of WKU's John D. Minton Graduate Student Award.
In the article that appears in the Summer 2004 issue of "ArcUser," Pfaff and Glennon explain how to develop a groundwater protection model using the newly developed ArcGIS 9 software.
The full text of the article, along with maps and graphics, can be viewed online at http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/0704/files/modelbuilder.pdf
"The quality of research evident in this article highlights not only the importance of the partnership between Mammoth Cave National Park and Western, but also the value of an outstanding geoscience education," said Dr. David Keeling, head of the Department of Geography and Geology. "Rhonda and Alan represent the very best qualities in our graduates. They are life-long learners and they are committed to helping us develop more sustainable communities."
Dr. Chris Groves, who supervised master's research by Pfaff and Glennon at WKU, added that "the level of sophistication in GIS research that Alan and Rhonda have been able to achieve, and the positive image that this work brings to WKU's GIS program, highlight the nationally significant returns already accruing from the wise investment that WKU made just a few years ago in GIS teaching and research infrastructure through the Applied Research and Technology Program."
For more information, contact Chris Groves at (270) 745-5974 or David Keeling at (270) 745-4555. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
