Contact: Sammy McDavid
Mississippi municipalities and counties are being invited to take advantage of a series of free one-day workshops offered by Mississippi State University on the use of geographic information and global positioning systems.
Local governmental bodies may enroll up to two representatives in the four- or eight-hour workshops being planned during July and August.
The "hands-on" training is being provided by MSU's landscape architecture department, Remote Sensing Technologies Center and John C. Stennis Institute of Government, in cooperation with the National Park Service.
University staff members currently are using common GIS and GPS equipment to create a digital model of the Natchez Trace Parkway. Federal parkway personnel will use the digital data sets for a variety of maintenance and planning activities, said Stennis Institute research analyst Keith A. Smith.
"For the benefit of interested cities and counties, these NPS working sessions are open to local government staff members who wish or need to learn more about these two systems," said Smith, who developed the workshop idea. "After completing the training, participants should better understand how GPS and GIS technology may be used in their individual work routines."
In sessions that include both theoretical and practical instruction, participants will accompany MSU staff members as they collect field data for the mapping project and load the information into a GIS.
"They also will have the opportunity to identify and collect GPS data themselves," Smith added.
MSU will provide refreshments throughout the training periods, but participants are responsible for their own transportation to and from locations and for meals.
For more information or to reserve a seat in a particular workshop, contact either Smith at (662) 325-3328, e-mail ksmith@sig.msstate.edu; or Wayne Wilkerson at 325-7900, e-mail gww@ra.msstate.edu.