OGRS2012 Symposium Proceedings

Do you remember the Open Source Geospatial Research and Education Symposium (OGRS) in Nantes? "Les Machines de l’Île", the Big Elephant, the "Storm Boat" with Claramunt, Petit et al. (2009), and "le Biniou et la Bombarde"? A second edition of OGRS was promised, and that promise is now fulfilled in OGRS 2012, Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, October 24-26, 2012. OGRS is a meeting dedicated to sharing knowledge, new solutions, methods, practices, ideas and trends in the field of geospatial information through the development and the use of free and open source software in both research and education. In recent years, the development of geospatial free and open source software (GFOSS) has breathed new life into the geospatial domain. GFOSS has been extensively promoted by FOSS4G events, which evolved from meetings which gathered together interested GFOSS development communities to a standard business conference. More in line with the academic side of the FOSS4G conferences, OGRS is a rather neutral forum whose goal is to assemble a community whose main concern is to find new solutions by sharing knowledge and methods free of software license limits. This is why OGRS is primarily concerned with the academic world, though it also involves public institutions, organizations and companies interested in geospatial innovation. This symposium is therefore not an exhibition for presenting existing industrial software solutions, but an event we hope will act as a catalyst for research and innovation and new collaborations between research teams, public agencies and industries. An educational aspect has recently been added to the content of the symposium. This important addition examines the knowledge triangle - research, education, and innovation - through the lens of how open source methods can improve education efficiency. Based on their experience, OGRS contributors bring to the table ideas on how open source training is likely to offer pedagogical advantages to equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in tomorrow’s geospatial labor market. OGRS brings together a large collection of current innovative research projects from around the world, with the goal of examining how research uses and contributes to open source initiatives. By presenting their research, OGRS contributors shed light on how the open-source approach impacts research, and vice-versa. The organizers of the symposium wish to demonstrate how the use and development of open source software strengthen education, research and innovation in geospatial fields. To support this approach, the present proceedings propose thirty short papers grouped under the following thematic headings: Education, Earth Science & Landscape, Data, Remote Sensing, Spatial Analysis, Urban Simulation and Tools. These papers are preceded by the contributions of the four keynote speakers: Prof Helena Mitasova, Dr Gérard Hégron, Prof Sergio Rey and Prof Robert Weibel, who share their expertise in research and education in order to highlight the decisive advantages of openness over the limits imposed by the closed-source license system

ACUTA Journal of Telecommunications in Higher Education

In This Issue Leadership Lessons Learned A Primer for New Managers from Four Who Have Been There Communications Technologies: What Do Presidents Need to Know? The Leadership Challenge Technology Leadership in Tumultuous Times Looking @ Leadership: Perspectives from Outside and lnside lT Leadership Land Mines: 8 Management Catastrophes and How to Avoid Them High Tech and Highly Effective lnstitutional Excellence Award What Kind of Leader Are You? Interview President\u27s Message From the Executive Directo

A Rooted University: Growing Resiliency, Community, and Engaged Food Citizens at the UM Campus Farm

In response to the recommendation from the Campus Sustainability Integrated Assessment of University of Michigan (2009), and the long-time vision of a core group of faculty and staff representing the Sustainable Food Initiative at the University of Michigan, the School of Natural Resources and Environment’s Sustainable Food Program 2012-2013 Master’s Project Team established the University of Michigan Sustainable Food Program (UMSFP) and the University of Michigan Campus Farm. Since its inception, UMSFP has remained an entirely student-driven initiative. A leadership team of four graduate students and four undergraduate students is responsible for program oversight and makes all of the core decisions surrounding its administration. In January 2013, UMSFP Program Manager, Emily Canosa, was hired to provide mentorship and support to the student leaders and to aid in the continuity to the program, as student leadership turns over each year. Emily is the only non-student member involved in the UMSFP leadership meetings. UMSFP also has an advisory board comprised of the students on the UMSFP leadership team, faculty, and staff. The program has since blossomed into a community of 10 active member groups, each representing unique interests in sustainable food. One of these member groups, Friends of the Campus Farm, along with student interns hired by the Matthaei Botanical Gardens, are responsible for directing and managing the Campus Farm, located at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens. The Farm began as a pilot program in May 2012, and it grew to its full production space of two acres, with a quarter acre cultivated, in Summer 2013. The Campus Farm was founded with this threefold mission (Dengate et. al, 2013): 1. Develop responsible citizens and leaders by facilitating formal and informal education on sustainable food topics. 2. Strengthen communities through collaborative programming and outreach 3. Grow sustainable food that supports the well-being of people and the environmental at the University of Michigan and beyond In line with this mission, programming at the farm has flourished since the planting of the pilot plot in May 2012: • Students can buy produce on campus in the fall at MFarmers’ Markets and at UMSFP’s member group Student Food Co.’s bi-weekly produce table • University courses incorporate the farm into their curriculum and projects, racking up more than 600 hours of course contact annually • Friends of the Campus Farm schedules regular workdays and volunteer opportunities for upwards of forty loyal volunteers who donate over 1900 hours of their time to the Farm each year. • New students get acquainted with the farm during Welcome Week and orientations • Three hundred community members celebrate each year at the Harvest FestivalMaster of ScienceNatural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106572/1/A Rooted University.pd

Music Recommendation to Groups

First we present Unison, a conceptual music recommender system for groups of people; the system aims at generating a playlist that takes musical tastes of all the group members into account. We discuss both theoretical and practical concerns related to such a system. We develop a model of user preferences and discuss how we can shift from individual recommendations to group consensus. In constructing the user preferences model we use an intermediary music track model that combines user-generated tags with a dimensionality reduction technique to build a compact spatial embedding of tracks. Secondly we introduce GroupStreamer, a practical implementation of the system that runs on Android devices. We present the technological choices that were made along the way

College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources: 18th Annual Report August 1, 2010-July 31, 2011

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources was selected as one of 16 recognized innovators of undergraduate education. The report includes a list of administrators and staff, the academic unit administrators, CASNER standing committees, departmental news and events, information about students and student organizations, honors, Dean\u27s List, degrees conferred, graduate fellowships, scholarships, alumni, Curriculum Committee actions, substitutions and waivers, distance education, recruitment, retention, and placement, international affairs, teaching faculty, faculty awards and recognition, faculty publications, faculty presentations, grants funded, faculty appointments, undergraduate student enrollment, graduate student enrollment, and enrollment charts. Highlights from the College during 2010-2011 include: The Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine Graduates (PPVM) graduated the first 23 students this spring at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine commencement. Three of the top four students in ISU\u27s graduating class were from the PPVM program. During the past six years (2005-2010) CASNR undergraduate enrollment has grown 48.9%. Our College has the highest retention rate (90% freshman to sophomore) at UNL. We have 40 student organizations that enrich the undergraduate experience. During the 2010-2011 academic year, the College awarded 932 scholarships to 800 students amounting to over $863,644. CASNR has a global campus with 69 students studying in 10 countries during the 2010-2011 academic year and summer 2011. Nearly 418 students participated in credentialed undergraduate research (56 in UCARE and the remainder in for-credit undergraduate research activities) and another 292 reported that they had a formal internship. Based on the Nebraska Foundation records (through May 2011 graduation), the College has 20,981 graduates. This annual report is dedicated to Walt and Virginia Bagley in recognition of their generous gift of Prairie Pines to the University of Nebraska Foundation. The 145 acres of land just east of Lincoln will be a research arboretum that will serve as an outdoor learning laboratory

Why <i>K</i>not?:Exploration of variation in long-distance migration

Red knots (Calidris canutus) are shorebirds that spent most of the year at intertidal areas such as the Wadden Sea. However, once a year to and from their northern breeding grounds. Red knots yearly undergo a remodeling of their body to be physiologically prepared for the long flight and following reproductive season. Previous work has shown that many experienced migrants are very consistent in their migratory routines. The aim of this thesis is to increase understanding of the development of individual migratory routines. In the first part of this thesis, I first explore individual variation in migratory behaviour present in wild knots using a novel solar-powered satellite transmitter. In the second part of this thesis I investigate how differences in experience effect the development of physiological and behavioural traits in birds temporarily held in captivity. By combining these results I show that environmental conditions play a key role in shaping individual migratory routines. Expending on the role of experience in shaping individual differences I present a testing protocol aimed at testing cognitive aspects of migration, a fairly under represented topic in studies on migration. For future studies I suggest to combine tracking of individual birds with standardized assays to stimulate research into the cognitive aspects of migratory behaviour. Because I believe that the closer we are to understanding ‘what it is like to be a bird (or any other animal) the more we are able, and willing, to appreciate and protect the animals and the habitats that are around us

The comparative evaluation of ERTS-1 imagery for resource inventory in land use planning

The author has identified the following significant results. Multidiscipline team interpretation and mapping of resources for Crook County is complete on 1:250,000 scale enlargements of ERTS imagery and 1:120,000 hi-flight photography. Maps of geology, soils, vegetation-land use and land resources units were interpreted to show limitations, suitabilities, and geologic hazards for land use planning. Mapping of lineaments and structures from ERTS imagery has shown a number of features not previously mapped in Oregon. A multistage timber inventory of Ochoco National Forest was made, using ERTS images as the first stage. Inventory of forest clear-cutting practices was successfully demonstrated with color composites. Soil tonal differences in fallow fields correspond with major soil boundaries in loess-mantled terrain. A digital classification system used for discriminating natural vegetation and geologic material classes was successful in separating most major classes around Newberry Caldera, Mt. Washington, and Big Summit Prairie

Philosophy and design in landscape architecture

This thesis is a critical enquiry which demonstrates the importance of philosophy, ethics and aesthetics to the education and practice of landscape architecture. The thesis adopts the premise that landscape architecture is an act of mediation between culture and nature and proposes a 'way of thinking or viewing' the discipline which could provide alternatives to current educational approaches.By situating many issues concerning landscape architecture within a hermeneutic /neo- pragmatic approach, a more comprehensive understanding of the discipline and its potential to shape environments may occur.The thesis argues that a critical understanding of not only the discipline but also 'culture' and 'nature' is required to prepare landscape architects to lead in the collaborative, creative exercise of seeking solutions to problems that may enable people to 'dwell' in places that are appropriate now. It is contended that a shift in current priorities is therefore required to ensure that the education of a landscape architect in the university comprises the development of critical understanding as much as technical competence