Biology

Each year for the past 13 years, a student from WKU’s GIS program has been selected for a GIS assistantship to participate in the annual Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) International Geographic Information Systems (GIS) User Conference at San Diego, California. This month marks the 14th year in a row that ESRI has selected students from WKU’s GIS program for the conference assistantship.

This year’s recipients are GIScience student Taylor Berzins of Antioch, Tennessee, and Geoscience graduate student Ellen Barringer of Louisville. Each will participate in the 36th Annual ESRI User Conference working half-days in July in exchange for conference registration, workshops, meals, and lodging. Esri selects 60 graduate and fourth-year undergraduate students from a pool of applicants for the competitive scholarships from universities and colleges throughout the United States.

This year’s conference is at the San Diego Convention Center during the week of July 20-24. Students will fly to San Diego on July 17 to begin preparation for the conference. Last year’s conference attracted 16,000 attendees from over 100 countries. Currently scheduled for the conference are 990 technical workshops, presentations, and papers. Esri, the largest vendor of GIS software, hosts the largest GIS conference in world for GIS users to share ideas and discuss the latest trends and practices in GIS.

“This is a great opportunity for our students to directly experience state-of-the-art GIS technologies and to observe the countless applications of GIS,” said Kevin Cary, WKU’s GIS Center Director. “Past students said that the conference gives them an entirely new perspective on and appreciation for GIS.”

For information about applying for an Esri student assistantship, or about GIS, WKU’s GIS programs and GIS applications in business and industry, contact Kevin Cary in WKU’s Center for GIS at (270) 745-2981 or kevin.cary@wku.edu.

Contact: Kevin Cary, (270) 745-2981