Highlights for May 21, 1999
USGS Center for Biological Informatics

I. Key Department News:

• BRD Evaluating Improved Web Software. On May 13, Mike Frame and Bruce Powell of the USGS Center for Biological Informatics (CBI) attended the Allaire ColdFusion 4.0 introductory seminar at the Hyatt Regency Tech Center, Denver. As the USGS national information center for the Biological Resources Division, CBI is seeking to enhance its Web page capabilities. ColdFusion allows the user to dynamically view data retrieved from databases; the Web page is essentially created "on the fly," providing information resulting from the individual Web user's prior choices. (Bruce Powell, Denver, 303-202-4250)
  
  
• USGS Completes Vegetation Mapping for Sixth National Park. On May 19, the USGS Center for Biological Informatics (CBI) sent a complete set of products from the USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program to Fort Laramie National Historic Site, Wyoming. The products included reports on methodologies for vegetation field sampling and classification, photointerpretation and mapping, accuracy assessment, vegetation maps, and a CD containing a full data set of the reports, field data, accuracy assessment data, and spatial data. These data will be used for natural resources management at Fort Laramie, including restoration of native grass stands and combating invasive exotics. Completion of this project marks the sixth park completed by the mapping program. CBI provides management oversight and scientific guidance to the program. (Tom Owens, Denver, 303-202-4259)
  

  
  

II. Agency Works on Presidential Initiatives: No report.

III. Notable Congressional Activity: No report.

IV. Press/Media Inquiries:

• R&D Magazine Article on GPS. On May 19, Karl Brown of the USGS Center for Biological Informatics provided R&D Magazine with information on DOI studies that combine GPS-derived information with data acquired automatically from other measurement sources. R&D magazine (Cahners Publishing) is an international technical trade magazine read by 100,000 scientists and engineers involved in industrial research and development. (Karl Brown, Denver, 303-202-4240)
  

V. FOIA Requests: No report.