For several years, CGIA has recognized and honored those in the GIS Community who do exemplary work or contribute to the industry in a huge way. There are five categories: Chairman’s Award, Advancement of Collaboration, Outstanding Internet Presentation, Exemplary Systems, and Excellence in Education. This year four of our colleagues were recognized for their contributions and outstanding work. Congratulations to all the winners!

Chairman’s Award – Dave Hansen, GISP, Soils Scientist/GIS Specialist, USBR

Dave has contributed immensely to the GIS community at all levels. He is a consistent and dependable resource who never turns down an opportunity to provide assistance to those in need in the GIS community. He has been described as a diplomat who is fair and helpful to all, as well as a mentor to the highest degree. His many accomplishments also include:

• Development of land cover data for the Central Valley
• Key projects in Reclamation include the Klamath dam removal and the Sac/SJ Bay Delta
• President of NorCal URISA
• GIS instructor at GIS Training Mutual
• Past Chair of CGIA
• Currently President of the GISCI Board of Directors

Advancement of Collaboration Award – Kris Lynn-Patterson, GIS Academic Coordinator, UC Div. Ag and Natural Resources

Kris has done outreach to the California agricultural community which has grown over the years. Bringing together the Ag community and scientists through the use of collaborative geospatial technology has been achieved with interactive websites and mapping. The information gathered and studied can and will produce data that can be studied and shared, providing important information for current and future decisions. Using GIS as the main tool for these endeavors not only promotes GIS but facilitates awareness of this powerful tool. As agriculture embraces technology, Kris has used GIS as an important component to Ag and scientific research.

Outstanding Internet Presentation – Mark Greninger, GIO, Chief Information Office, Los Angeles County

Project:  Update CGIA Website

CGIA was in great need of revamping its web presence to be interactive, informative, and more contemporary. As a member of the web committee, and with direction from the board, Mark launched right into setting up a prototype and then moving the site to production. He took concepts and turned them into workable tangibles. Mark’s efforts go far above and beyond the expectations of a volunteer board member, benefitting CGIA and the entire GIS Community.

Exemplary Systems – Keith Russell

Project:  Enterprise Data Window

Keith Russell, with a degree in engineering and computer science, has been working in the industry since 1986. After a varied career in several agencies he went to work for a small water district in southern California to work on what he called, at the time, “an ERP framework for GIS and document management.” This framework can read and write to various formats of spatial, vector, and spatial database formats including ESRI’s SDE, Oracle Spatial, SQL Server 2008, Katimi, and others; but it is primarily a document management system. This framework serves as a base for the entire enterprise without the use of any third party software products; it just focuses on the data.