MAGIP News Blog

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  • 04/27/2021 7:00 AM | Meghan Burns (Administrator)

    View the Nominees!

    Vice President - Elected to three (3) year term (Vice President, President, Past President)
    • Mike Powell
    Secretary  - Elected to two (2) year term
    • Aaron Vaughn
    • Heather Widlund
    Treasurer  - Elected to two (2) year term
    • Nate Wold
    Technical Committee Chair  - Elected to two (2) year term
    • Jason Danielson
    • Kenny Ketner
    Scholarship & Grants Committee Chair - Elected to two (2) year term 
    • Dr. Robert Ahl
    • Craig Threlkeld


    REMEMBER - Only MAGIP Members in Good Standing can vote in the MAGIP Election!


    Elections will run May 3 - 17

    Look for your ballot in your email on May 3!

    More information can be found at the 2021 MAGIP Elections page



  • 04/23/2021 2:03 PM | Meghan Burns (Administrator)

    The MAGIP Grants and Scholarship Committee is pleased to announce the 2021 awards for Higher Education Scholarships and K-12 Education Grants.

    Despite the challenges of online learning and living, MAGIP was fortunate to receive a relatively large number of high-quality scholarship applications from Doctoral and Master degree candidates.

    While we would like to support all submitted projects, we identified two exceptional Higher Education Scholarship proposals that we are delighted to fund this year. These scholarships will be distributed to one Doctoral student, and one Master’s degree student:

    • Christopher HansenPh.D. Candidate, W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation Wildlife Biology Program University of Montana; Project Title: “Vegetation Response to Livestock Grazing on Public Lands in the Western United States” 
    • Shira EllensonMaster’s Candidate W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation Department of Geography University of Montana; Project Title: “Arctic Greening: 25 Years of Change from In-Situ and Remotely Sensed Observations”

    Furthermore, we are excited to work with the Frenchtown Intermediate School through a Van Shelhamer Memorial K-12 Education Grant and help them develop geospatially oriented lesson plans based on GeoCaching and Orienteering exercises.

    • Riley Devins, Principal Frenchtown Intermediate School Frenchtown, MT

    Visit the Grants and Scholarship pages for additional information about these projects.

    Congratulations to these well-deserving awardees on behalf of MAGIP and the Scholarships and Grants Committee!

  • 03/24/2021 7:00 AM | Meghan Burns (Administrator)

    We have three Board Officer positions and two committee chair positions that will be open for nominations: Secretary, Treasurer, Technical Committee Chair and Scholarship & Grants Committee Chair. These are all two year positions. And we also have the Vice/President/Past position, which is a three year position.  

    View the 2021 MAGIP Elections Page

    If you’ve considered getting more involved in YOUR GIS professional organization on a State Board level, now is the time. I can guarantee that you’ll get to work with a fun, easy-going group of people who are as interested in GIS as you are! J 

    You can nominate yourself or someone else, and you may also run again if you are an existing Board member. As far as a time commitment, I would say that you get back as much as you put in, but you are looking at a minimum of 5-10 hours per month, depending on the position you hold and  the month. There is more time required leading up to conferences in April. Board Members are pseudo members of other committees, so if you are someone who likes to be involved, this is your opportunity.   

    I am sending this email out now so that you have some time to consider whether you’d like to do this, have the time to commit, AND have time for your employer to consider allowing you to hold a position as it does require time during the day, during the work week to attend Board and other meetings. The Election process will begin following the MAGIP Conference next month.

     

    The election process, as spelled out in the MAGIP By-laws is as follows: 

    Article IV – ELECTION PROCESS 

    Section 1. For any decision requiring a vote of the membership, the entire membership shall be afforded the opportunity to vote, with results being decided by a simple majority of those voting.

    Section 2. A Call for Nominations shall be sent to the Association membership no less than fourteen (14) days before the date set for the voting period to begin for the annual election of Board members. Members may nominate themselves or any other Association member. 

    Nominations shall be submitted to the Past President, who will verify that Nominees agree to run and that they are qualified to sit on the Board according to Article II of these Bylaws. The Nominations shall close no less than seven (7) days before the election. The Past President shall prepare a Ballot of the slate of Nominees. 

    Section 3. Ballots shall be sent electronically to Association members not less than fourteen (14) days before the date set for the end of the election period and returned within the prescribed time to be counted. 

    Section 4. The Board shall appoint a non-standing Election Committee consisting of at least three (3) Association members.

    Section 5. Ballots are valid if received by the close of business on the day specified by the Board. A count shall be made by the Election Committee of the votes and a report made to the Board and the membership. Tie votes shall be resolved by a vote of the Board. This section shall apply to all elections unless otherwise specified in these By-laws. 

    Section 6. A complete file of all ballots, tallies, and documents of Election Committee actions shall be maintained by the Board. 

    Section 7. Election results shall be announced by the President not more than seven (7) days after the report by the Election Committee to the Board. Newly elected Board members shall take office on the first Monday after their ratification by a majority of the Board.

    I’ve held multiple Board positions, so if you have any questions or would just like to talk through this to see if it’s for you, please give me a call. I’m happy to share my experience with you.

     

    Jenny Connelley Engineering Technician

    City of Bozeman | 20 E. Olive St. | Bozeman, MT 59715

    P: 406.582.2922

    www.bozeman.net


  • 03/01/2021 7:00 AM | Meghan Burns (Administrator)


    Registration Now Open!!

    2021 Big Sky GeoCon 


    "Analyzing the Past, Adapting to the Present, Shaping the Future"

    April 5-8, 2021
    Virtual Conference

    The 2021 Virtual Conference will feature two days of workshops, two days of consecutive sessions, a keynote luncheon, map gallery, sponsor spotlights, virtual exhibitor hall, social networking and knowledge sharing opportunities!  Please see the conference webpage for more information. Register today!  Instructions on how to access the virtual platform will be sent 1-2 weeks prior to the conference.  


  • 12/14/2020 5:00 PM | Meghan Burns (Administrator)

    Greetings!

    The Montana Association of Geographic Information Professionals (MAGIP) invite you to participate as a sponsor/exhibitor in the 2021 Virtual Big Sky GeoCon, April 6-9. This year we are bringing the best of the Big Sky GeoCon to all attendees wherever they are on the map!

    The theme is "Analyzing the Past, Adapting to the Present and Shaping the Future" and we are hoping you can help us complement our program by participating as a Sponsor/Exhibitor. This year's virtual landscape can potentially offer you more value by:

    ·         Potential to reach a larger audience

    ·         Metrics are more trackable

    ·         Easier to measure ROI

    ·         Increased visual options to showcase your services

    MAGIP is a non-profit professional association that works to identify and support the strengths of its members, find solutions to individual and collective problems, and address the needs of the Montana GIS community as a whole. Our Association has over 200 active members from every level of GIS expertise, and from many different professional fields. Big Sky GeoCon serves as MAGIP’s and Montana’s key geospatial networking event!

    Big Sky GeoCon will be utilizing the PheedLoop virtual conference platform and we anticipate a diverse group of geospatial technology users and professionals to be in attendance, representing: federal, state, tribal, local government, university/educational, nonprofit, and private business sectors. Big Sky GeoCon attendees embody a wide variety of professions including natural resources, agriculture, utilities, geospatial services, mining, and timber.

    The conference will cover a broader spectrum of content including analytics, data acquisition, data science, and how geospatial technology augments them all.  It should prove to be a great event to showcase your Company’s technology or services to a diverse audience.

    View the detailed prospectus with sponsor/exhibitor options.  Click here to register and secure your spot today for the largest and most well attended GIS event in the Montana - Idaho region!

    èTo learn more about the virtual platform and how to maximize your experience, we encourage you to watch this video.

    We are looking forward to hearing from you!

    On behalf of,

    The 2021 Big Sky GeoCon Conference Planning Committee


  • 11/18/2020 6:00 PM | Meghan Burns (Administrator)

    GIS DAY 2020

    Wednesday, November 18


    MAGIP WEB MAP CONTEST

    1st Place - $100

    The Sprague Fire and the future of Glacier National Park's Sperry Chalet - Morgan Voss

    2nd Place -  $50

    Gallatin County SAR 2019 Annual Report - Curtis DeVault

    3rd Place -  $25

    Gillette Aerial Hub - Nick Swartz


    View Map Entries

    Voting Ends Wednesday, November 18 at 5pm

    Also, MAGIP is hosting an all day Mapathon on GIS Day look for more details through the MAGIP Email List and the GIS Day page.


  • 10/02/2020 7:00 AM | Meghan Burns (Administrator)

    The Montana Association of Geographic Information Professionals in collaboration with ESRI, invite you to participate in the 2020 Fall "Mini-GeoCon" Wednesday, October 21 - Thursday, October 22 

    This event will be delivered in a virtual format via Zoom and is FREE to MAGIP members!  Only $40 for non-members (save $10 by registering as a member!

    Presenters include ESRI, Missoula County, DNRC, City of Bozeman and community users.

    Sessions include:

    • Transitioning from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro
    • ArcGIS Enterprise Architecture and Administration Discussion
    • Montana ArcGIS Enterprise, AGOL, Blended Environments
    • ArcGIS Experience Builder
    • COVID-19 Information
    • Montana Forest Action Plan
    • Recovery Dashboard

    For questions or more information on the conference content contact Jeff Hedstrom or Jenny Connelley

    Click Here to see Full Schedule and to access the presentation recordings 



  • 04/09/2020 7:00 AM | Meghan Burns (Administrator)

    Although we were disappointed not to be able to honor Montana GIS students in general and particularly our MAGIP Higher Education Scholarship awardees at this year’s Big Sky GeoCon, we would like to share some success stories with you now.

    This year MAGIP was fortunate to receive a record number of high-quality scholarship applications from Doctoral, Master, and Bachelor degree candidates at both the University of Montana and Montana State University.

    While we would like to support all submitted projects, which included work on snow science, unmanned aerial systems and photogrammetry, wetlands and riparian systems assessment, geological hazards analysis, agricultural systems analysis and pest management, we worked long and hard to identify and award four scholarships, distributed to two Doctoral students, one Master’s degree student, and one Bachelor degree student. Below are the names, institutions, and project descriptions of those well-deserving awardees. 

    Seth Mangini, PhD student
    Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University
    “Southwestern Wetlands: Erosion, Geomorphology, and Implications for Restoration”

    Sasha Loewen, PhD student
    Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University
    “Data driven adaptive management of organic dryland cropping systems” 

    Zachary Miller, MS student
    Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University
    “Mapping Snow Depth Variability in Complex Mountain Terrain Using UAS and SfM Photogrammetry”

    Lochlin Ermatinger, Bachelor degree student
    Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University
    “Developing Spatial Tools and Methods for Integrated Pest Management of the Wheat Stem Sawfly (Cephus cinctus) in Montana’s Golden Triangle”

    For more information you can read the Project Abstracts

    Congratulations to each of the recipients!

    Robert Ahl, PhD

    MAGIP Education Committee Chair

    https://www.magip.org/Scholarships/ 


  • 03/16/2020 1:00 PM | Meghan Burns (Administrator)


    2020 Big Sky GeoCon 


    "Analyzing the Past, Shaping the Future"

    April 6-9, 2020

    Holiday Inn Downtown | Missoula, MT

    Notice: The 2020 Big Sky GeoCon has been Canceled

    MAGIP will issue a full refund for registration and workshop fees

    Please contact the Holiday Inn Downtown to cancel your hotel reservation

    Letter from Jenny Connelley, MAGIP President

  • 02/18/2020 4:00 PM | Meghan Burns (Administrator)

    The Montana Association of Geographic Professionals (MAGIP) biannually presents two awards. The Distinguished Service Award is presented for long-term service and leadership to the Montana GIS community and the GIS profession. The GIS Professional Livability Award recognizes an individual's measurable contribution to the application of GIS, thus improving the quality of life within their community.

    Submit your nomination! 

    The deadline for submission has been extended to February 24, 2020

    If you plan to submit multiple nominations, please create a separate submission for each. Each nomination requires a one-page letter of nomination, two references who also support the nomination, and any supporting documentation.

    The awards will be presented during the Big Sky GeoCon dinner on Wednesday, April 8, 2020 in Missoula.

    On behalf of MAGIP Awards Committee, we look forward to hearing from you!


    Applicants for the Distinguished Service Award must: 

    • Have substantial years of service (10+) in or supporting the Montana GIS Community and a desire to continue to serve

    • Displays exemplary accomplishments as a GIS Professional, selfless service to the profession and participation in committees, workgroups, and organizations that support the Montana geospatial community

    • Has an impact within and / or external to the realm of the member's workplace

    • Undertakes and leads activities that benefit the GIS Community outside of regular job responsibilities

    • Demonstrates initiative, resourcefulness and creativity and is willing to seek out and pursue new challenges that benefit the Montana GIS Profession

    • Acknowledged by his / her peers for leadership and substantial service to the profession and community

    Applicants for the Livability Award must:

    • Demonstrate a measurable contribution to the education, communication, coordination, and application of GIS technologies that have been a major influence to the growth and use of GIS in creating a more livable community
    • Express exemplary dedication with focus to the development and implementation of GIS technologies which enhance individual and community life and promote the efficient use of community resources
    • Acknowledged by his \ her peers for perseverance with belief and purpose; tasking themselves with the growth, as well as the challenges of GIS development for them and for their neighbor...sometimes in the face of discouragement

    Additional information and Past Award Recipients can be found on the MAGIP Awards page

    Questions? Contact the Professional Development Committee Chair


© Montana Association of Geographic Information Professionals

MAGIP is a 501(c)6 non-profit organization in Montana

Full Scope Association and Event Management

1236 North Ave. W, Missoula, MT  59801

magip.mt@gmail.com


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