On Wednesday, November 20th, 2002 the New Hampshire Space Grant Consortium and Complex Systems Research Center
hosted their fourth annual International GIS Day Conference at the Institute for the Study of
Earth Oceans and Space at the University of New Hampshire. GIS Day is a day set aside during National
Geography Awareness Week for Geo-Spatial Science professionals to reach out and educate people of
all ages about the important contributions that Geo-Spatial Science related technologies make in all
of our lives. Hosted guests to this year's GIS Day conference included approximately
two hundred and fifty high school students from many New Hampshire high schools during the private morning
sessions from 9:30am to 1:30pm and upwards of four hundred Geo-Spatial Science professionals, presenters
and guests from all around the state of New Hampshire during our afternoon sessions from 2:00 to 5:00pm.
All GIS Day 2002 conference guests were hosted to many attractions and events including this
year's featured attraction, the world famous eleven foot satellite imagery ORBIS EarthBall globe.
All guests were also treated to an extensive cartographic exhibition, a Geo-Spatial Science college
fair and hands on tours of Complex Systems Research Center's state of the art GIS and Remote Sensing
laboratory. This year's GIS Day 2002 cartographic exhibition featured over one hundred
maps and posters from presenters from all around the state. Invited presenters include professionals
from many sectors of the Geo-Spatial Science community including urban planning, resource management,
emergency management, education, science, government, and industry. This year's GIS Day Conference
Geo-Spatial Science college fair featured representatives from many regional Geo-Spatial Science
undergraduate, graduate degree and certificate programs. Morning student guests were treated to a
series of talks about the Geo-Spatial Sciences and the educational and career opportunities that they
have to offer. Afternoon guests were hosted to a series of professional hardware and software, vendor and
data provider demonstrations from leading companies and organizations in the Geo-Spatial Science
industry.
In an effort to further enhance geographic knowledge all students guests were provided with packets which
included additional information about Geo-Spatial Science related technologies, career and educational opportunities
in the Geo-Sciences, interesting earth facts, information about famous geographers and a geo-quiz. All students were
also provided with a new Merriam Webster Notebook atlas and a series of souvenirs including National Geographic World
Maps, stressball globes, pens, buttons, keychains and stickers. In total, throughout the day, the 40+ person GIS Day 2002 staff were able
to give away over 500 atlases, 250 maps, 500 stress ball globes, and over 1000 other souvenirs to the GIS Day 2002 guests.
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