MSU inviting high school students to celebrate 'Geo Info' day

Contact: Maridith Geuder

STARKVILLE, Miss.--All interested Mississippi high school students are being encouraged to attend Mississippi State's annual observance of national Geographic Information Systems Day.

Sponsored Nov. 16 by the university's GeoResources Institute, the free, day-long event will feature, among other activities:

--Demonstrations of CAVE, a three-dimensional virtual environment;

--Geocaching, a high-technology treasure hunt; and

--Another computer simulation that enables users to pinpoint their exact location and figuratively "dig to China."

National GIS Day is sponsored each year to recognize the numerous applications of geographic information technologies and suggest future career opportunities in GIS-related fields. The National Geographic Society, Association of American Geographers, U.S. Geological Survey, and Library of Congress are among the major sponsors.

All of the Mississippi State events will be held at the ERC (formerly known as the Engineering Research Center), a major unit of the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park. The park is located just north of campus on Highway 182.

MSU's GeoResources Institute applies geospatial technologies to resource management in agriculture, forestry and water resources.

For more information about Mississippi State's observance of GIS Day, contact Debbie McBride at (662) 325-9333 or dmcbride@gri.msstate.edu.