Highlights for September 3, 1999
USGS Center for Biological Informatics

• USGS Scientists Co-Author Geospatial Science Book. Three scientists from the USGS Center for Biological Informatics (Maury Nyquist, Tom Owens, and Ralph Root) will be co-authors of chapters in the upcoming book, Manual of Geospatial Science and Technology, to be published by Taylor & Francis with John Bossler as editor-in-chief. The book has three major parts: Global Positioning Systems, Remote Sensing, and Geographic Information Systems. It is being written for the person who knows little about these technologies and applications but who may be an integral member of a group responsible for coordinating, designing, collecting, and analyzing a variety of these data types for state, county, or related projects. (Maury Nyquist, Denver, 303-202-4217)

• USGS Scientist Provides GPS Expertise. Karl Brown of the USGS Center for Biological Informatics will present "GPS Current Capabilities and Upcoming Developments" to an audience of State and Federal spatial technology users on September 8 at the USGS Rocky Mountain Mapping Center in Denver. (Karl Brown, Denver, 303-202-4240)

• USGS Leads FGDC Modular Metadata Training. The USGS Center for Biological Informatics will lead an FGDC effort to develop modular metadata training materials, with NOAA's Coastal Services Center as co-chair. A team of Federal and State agencies, as well as private concerns has been recruited to collaborate on the development of a set of standardized modular training materials for metadata that will be integrated into university GIS curricula and finally evolved into distance learning materials. Team members currently involved in providing metadata workshops will convene September 26-29 at NOAA's Coastal Service Center in Charleston, South Carolina, to develop draft modular metadata training materials. Once the materials are produced in final format, the academic team will integrate the modules into the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis core curriculum for geographic information systems. Finally, a software team will develop distance learning applications. All materials will be available from the FGDC. (Sharon Shin, Denver, 303-202-4230)

• NBII Workshop at TWS Annual Meeting. On September 8, the National Biological Information Infrastructure will present a one-day workshop at The Wildlife Society's 6th Annual Conference in Austin, Texas. "Data Stewardship: Biological Metadata to Ensure Data Longevity" will be presented as a hands-on exercise, with participants creating Biological Data Profile metadata. A workshop of 16 participants is expected. (Sharon Shin, Denver, 303-202-4230)

III. Notable Congressional Activity: No report.

IV. Press/Media Inquiries: No report.

V. FOIA Requests: No report.