Contact: Jim Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A Mississippi State University program that introduces local middle and high school students to cutting-edge geographic information systems technology and GIS career opportunities takes place Wednesday [Nov. 17].
GIS Day 2010, sponsored by the land-grant institution's Department of Geosciences and Geosystems Research Institute, will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at the High Performance Computing Collaboratory building in the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park, located across Highway 182 from the university's campus.
Organizers have planned an eventful morning of hands-on, problem-solving activities for GIS Day at MSU, now in its seventh year. Students will learn about the vital role that geography plays in understanding natural disasters by using GIS knowledge and technology to respond to a simulated flood.
More than 100 students from Lee Middle School in Columbus and the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science will participate in GIS Day thanks to the Initiating New Science Partnerships in Rural Education program at MSU, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.
In addition to Mississippi State's event, GIS Day activities will be taking place across the country Wednesday as part of Geography Awareness Week in an effort to boost geographic education and to provide a showcase for GIS technologies that are solving real-world problems and making a difference.
For additional information, please contact assistant professor Karen McNeal at ksm163@msstate.edu or 662-268-1032, or Debbie McBride at dmcbride@hpc.msstate.edu or 662-325-9333.