Press Releases

January  24, 2011 (Des Plaines, IL) - URISA is pleased to announce its 2011 Student Competition.  The 2011 Student Competition will consist of a two-tier approach that includes Papers and Posters. Submissions are due on or before June 6, 2011. For complete details: http://www.urisa.org/student_paper_competition

The Board of Directors of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) proudly announces the appointment of Dr. Piyushimita (Vonu) Thakuriah to a three-year term as Editor-in-Chief of the URISA Journal.

October 12, 2010  (Des Plaines, IL) -  URISA is now accepting abstract submissions for the 2011 URISA GIS in Public Health Conference. The conference will take place in Atlanta, Georgia, June 27-30, 2011.

The conference was established to provide an open and participatory forum for advancing the effective use of spatial information and geographic information system technologies across the domains of public health, healthcare and community health preparedness.   

URISA is honored to welcome an esteemed group of industry thought leaders to participate in a panel discussion on Thursday, September 30, 2010 during GIS-Pro 2010: URISA’s 48^th Annual Conference for GIS Professionals in Orlando. The moderated session will discuss such topics as:

• Where is the Industry going?
• What are the next hot trends, issues, opportunities, emerging technologies?

The participants in this session will include:

In an effort to provide GIS-Pro 2010 exhibitors unparalleled access to an interested and influential audience, URISA is pleased to feature an exhibition that is completely integrated within the conference. The meeting space has been arranged so that the exhibition is part of the general session room, where keynote and plenary sessions will occur throughout the conference and also where lunch and breakfast sessions will take place.

August 9, 2010 (Des Plaines, IL) - URISA is pleased to announce the results of its 2010 Board of Directors Election. Greg Babinski, GISP will become President-Elect of the association. Tom Conry, Nancy Obermeyer, GISP and Christopher Thomas will begin their terms as members of the Board of Directors, at the close of GIS-Pro 2010: URISA's 48th Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, September 28-October 1, 2010.

Zsolt Nagy, GISP, will draw on his current and previous experiences to speak on the directions and opportunities to identify, collaborate, and advance geospatial priorities during the Closing Plenary Session at GIS-Pro 2010: URISA’s 48th Annual Conference for GIS Professionals in Orlando.

URISA is pleased to announce Stan Meiburg as the opening keynote speaker at GIS-Pro 2010 in Orlando. Stan Meiburg is the Acting Regional Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 4 in Atlanta, Georgia. In his keynote address, “From Environmental Information to Environmental Action: Challenges in Using GIS for Environmental Protection,” Mr. Meiburg will discuss the barriers to the use of GIS applications in setting environmental policy and producing environmental improvement.

Did BP Fail Standard of Care Tests?

Dr. Barry Wellar, Professor Emeritus, Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Ottawa, Canada, questions whether a possible failure to properly apply standard of care tests contributed to BP's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Wellar, a distinguished research scientist and President of the Information Research Board, will discuss the BP case at two featured conference sessions during URISA’s 2010 GIS-Pro Conference in Orlando, Florida.

June 15, 2010 (Des Plaines, IL) – URISA - The Association for GIS Professionals - is pleased to announce the Third URISA GIS in Public Health Conference, taking place June 27-30, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia. The conference program is developed through a Call for Presentations which will be issued shortly.