Emergency Response Exercise

Broadway 1 & 2

The day is Tuesday, November 26th 2013. It’s two days before Thanksgiving. Folks have finalized plans for Thanksgiving dinner. Travel arrangements have been made. The busiest travel time of the year is about to descend on the US. Beautiful weather is predicted for the majority of the country for the remainder of the week. The only exception is the east coast where a major coastal storm is projected to hit landfall around New York City and head inland from there! As a GIS professional, what should you do to help? What can you do? Spend 90 fast paced minutes examining at the possibilities and discussing them with experts. Develop pragmatic action items that GIS professionals can do to assist the public and local government in times of need.

Facilitator: Bruce Oswald, Oswald Associates

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

Experienced Analysts: 

Julia O’Brien, FEMA

Julia O’Brien is the FEMA Region II Geospatial Coordinator. In that role she works toward building connections in the geospatial community within FEMA, and within the Region II emergency management communities of New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. Julia also works to improve GIS capability in FEMA Region II, and is responsible for improving project management process within the Region.

Julia has been a project manager for over 25 years, chiefly in GIS projects. Before joining FEMA, she was a Senior Project Manager with Team Hewlett-Packard on the Emergency Communications Transformation Program (ECTP) for New York City. She was responsible for management of a 15 million dollar, multi-year project to create a complete and accurate geographic information system (GIS) data set of all the streets and addresses in NYC, ultimately called CSCL.

Prior to ECTP, Julia managed projects for URS Corporation and TAMS Consultants involving environmental remediation, environmental impact statements, and environmental assessments, particularly where the use of GIS was required. She has experience in GIS going back 30 years.

Julia is currently an adjunct professor at both Seton Hall University and Touro College, teaching courses in GIS.

Tim Ruhren, NYS OIT

Tim Ruhren is a Mapping Technologist with the GIS Program Office, or GPO, in the New York State Office of Information Technology Services. Within the GPO Tim manages several data development projects including the Statewide Digital Orthoimagery Program. He also manages the team which supplies GIS support to OEM at the State Emergency Operations Center and to the NYS Incident Management Team.

Douglas J. Schuetz, GIS Director, County of Rockland

Douglas Schuetz is the GIS Director for Rockland County where he manages all aspects of an enterprise GIS. Doug has nearly 30 years of experience in all phases of the design, implementation, quality control and management of a GIS, with an emphasis in urban planning and emergency management. Twenty of those years have been with the County of Rockland.

The major focus of his work has been the development of a comprehensive GIS approach to County government, culminating in broad access to computer mapping data, maps and applications via a GIS Portal. Under his direction, in 2010, Rockland County received the GeoWorld Magazine Geospatial Leadership award for its GIS Portal, a gateway to Rockland County mapping resources. Most recently, the Rockland County GIS team was acknowledged for the National 2013 Digital Government Achievement Award in the Government-to-Government Category from the Center for Digital Government. The award was an Honorable Mention for the County’s GIS Emergency Application.

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater, Doug began his professional career working in the private sector at both Emanuel Associates and as a GIS consultant. His work included working on comprehensive plans and 911 implementation projects. Doug previously was an adjunct professor at Rockland Community College, where he developed and taught several GIS courses, and developed a GIS Certificate and Associate’s Degree program.

Doug is the recipient of numerous awards and letters of commendation. Among them is the Hammer Award from former Vice President Gore’s National Partnership for Reinventing Government campaign. He is a member of the New York State Cadastral Data Work Group. He also is active on other technical GIS, emergency planning and security committees at various levels of government. He has authored and/or co-authored various articles for technical publications.

Don Meltz, Don Meltz Planning & GIS

Don is a certified planner with the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), and the owner of Don Meltz Planning and GIS.

Don obtained his Bachelor of Arts in biology from Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire, and his Masters in Regional Planning from the University at Albany.

Don describes himself as – Primarily a small-town planner, specializing in spatial analysis, mapping, and the use of GIS tools to help his clients identify strategies that will help them build a better place to live in.

Don’s clients are all located in Upstate NY, primarily in the Mid-Hudson Valley and the Catskill Mountain regions.

In 2011 when Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee hit, his current and past clients included 14 Catskill region towns and villages within the affected area. Including: the towns of Olive, Shandaken, Roxbury, Andes, Middletown, Conesville, Durham, Jewett, Cairo, Halcott, and the Villages of Schoharie, Tannersville, Fleischmanns, and Margaretville.

During the storms, and for about 2 weeks after, Don collaborated with the online news outlet “Watershed Post”, gathering and disseminating information about the effects of the storms – producing and updating an online map showing where roads and bridges were washed out or closed, where to find shelter and supplies, and where to go to help with the recovery efforts.

Mobile Apps

Broadway 3 & 4

The constantly evolving nature of technology has fueled an explosion of implementation options for us in the geospatial industry. Cloud solutions and mobile is the happening place to be today, and the need for traditionally trained GIS specialists is changing. This presentation will take both a broad and under-the-hood look at CartoDB (Cloud hosting) and Leaflet (OpenSource library) for interactive map development, focusing on tablet and smartphone users. Bring your Android or iOS device to kick the tires on some of geospatial’s newest set of tools. No programming skills required to play along.

Facilitator: Mickey Dietrich, Tug Hill Commission

Presenter: Linda Rockwood, Mohawk Valley GIS

Linda Rockwood, owner of Herkimer-based Mohawk Valley GIS, has worn several “technology hats” with the most rewarding and challenging being that of GIS consultant the last thirteen years. Although schooled in ESRI software and a current licensed user for over ten years, Ms. Rockwood has also worked extensively with Manifold GIS for both desktop and Internet Map Server use along with exploring and implementing projects in a handful of other vendor and OpenSource alternatives.

Custom app development for both iOS and Android smartphone use also influences how Ms. Rockwood approaches solutions to spatial data projects for municipalities and tourism promotion and nonprofit organizations throughout the region.

Web Map Services

Travers

Facilitator: Bill Johnson, NYS ITS

Presenter: Frank Winters

 

WayPoint GPS Workshop

In this session, Waypoint Technology Group will review recent developments in GPS technology and applications. Bring your own GPS and let the “GPS Doctors” help troubleshoot or resurrect your existing system.

Facilitator: Tom Sears, County of Steuben

Presenter: Jonathan Cobb, Waypoint Technology Group

Mr. Cobb is a founder of Waypoint Technology Group, an Albany-based GPS solutions company. He has twenty-five years of varied professional experience in GPS/GIS applications, civil and environmental engineering, and GPS technology sales, consulting and training. At Waypoint, he is responsible for consultative sales of GPS solutions aimed at supporting GIS mapping applications and integrated solutions. He is a sales representative for GPS survey & mapping grade systems manufactured by Trimble Navigation, Ltd., and is also a Trimble-Certified Trainer. Mr. Cobb is a frequent presenter on the topic of the global positioning system and its applications.

About Waypoint Technology Group

Waypoint Technology Group

Jonathan Cobb
17 Computer Drive East
Albany, NY 12205 USA
Phone: 518-438-6293
Email: jcobb@waypointtech.com
www.waypointtech.com

Waypoint Technology Group, LLC (“Waypoint”), provides a wide range of Global Positioning System (“GPS”) mapping and surveying solutions for businesses, government, and educational institutions.  Waypoint is an authorized distributor of survey and mapping-grade systems made by Trimble Navigation, Ltd., and offers hardware and software sales and rentals, consulting services, and training.