Bowling Green, Ky. - The 2005 Kentucky GIS conference convened last week in Bowling Green at the Holiday Inn University Plaza, with the keynote speech presented by Jeremy Harris, former mayor of Honolulu.

Sponsored by the Kentucky Division of Geographic Information (http://gis.ky.gov/), the conference featured presentations and workshops by Western Kentucky University Geography and Geology faculty.

This year's conference theme "A Spatial Commonwealth" was developed by Dan Taylor, a WKU geoscience master's program graduate employed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Louisville. A total of 52 presentations addressed myriad aspects of GIS software and analysis; 10 of the presentations were from Kentucky universities with WKU faculty and students contributing eight of the 10.

"Western Kentucky University's investment in GIS technologies has positioned the department at the forefront of GIS research and application in the Commonwealth," said Dr. David Keeling, head of WKU's Department of Geography and Geology. "WKU offers the only integrated and advanced GIS Certificate programs for undergraduates and graduates in the state. WKU students are applying GIS technologies in problem-solving research across the region, state and internationally."

Geoscience graduate student Shawn Simpson of Bowling Green presented "Internet GIS; ArcIMS Applications with the Kentucky Climate Center, WKU."

Geoscience graduate student Narcisa Pricope of Romania presented "Modeling Soil Erosion in the Upper Green River Basin."

Geoscience graduate student Joseph Islas of Bowling Green presented "GIS Applications in Modeling and Interpretation of Geologic Faults in Warren County."

GIS Center Director Kevin Cary, with co-author geoscience graduate student Shwu-jing Jeng of China, presented "Mapping WKU's Information and Communication Infrastructure for GIS."

Geoscience graduate student Shweta Tope of India, with co-authors Karla Andrew and Dr. Andrew Ernest, presented "Utilizing Integrated GIS to Combat Bioterrorist Threats and Protect Drinking Water Supplies."

Geoscience graduate student Sara Dalton of Bowling Green presented "Strategies to Reduce Mosquito-Borne Disease Vulnerability in Equine Populations."

Karla Andrew, project specialist at WKU's Technical Assistance Center for Water Quality, with co-authors geoscience graduate student Shweta Tope of India, Trey Lyons and Ogden Associate Dean Dr. Andrew Ernest, presented "Using ArcGIS Server to provide GIS to Rural Water Districts."

Computer science graduate student Aditya Tadakaluru of India, with co-authors Karla Andrew and Dr. Mostafa Mostafa, presented "Tools for Mining Spatially Referenced Water Quality Data."

In addition, the GIS Center at WKU hosted a two-day workshop for conference participants on ESRI's Introduction to ArcGIS I, sponsored by the Kentucky Council of Area Development Districts.

GIS Center Director Kevin Cary serves as president of the Southern Kentucky GIS Users Group, which is a contributing member of the state organization.

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For information, contact Kevin Cary at (270) 745-2981.