Highlights for October 8, 1999
USGS Center for Biological Informatics

I. Key Department News:

• USGS Assists NW Arkansas County and Local Planners. Ralph Root, USGS Center for Biological Informatics, met with city and county planners from Washington and Benton Counties in northwest Arkansas on September 23 to present the capabilities of the decision support system (DSS) "Smart Places." Conceived initially for the redevelopment of the former Stapleton Airport in Denver (see <http://www.smartplaces.com/Origin.htm>), an enhanced version of the DSS called AR/GIS <http://www.ciesin.colostate.edu/argis/> was proposed to be used in conjunction with the region's Community Asset and Development Information System (CADIS). CADIS was initially developed at the University of Arkansas Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies <www.cast.uark.edu/local/cadis/>. "Smart Places" has the potential for further enhancing planning efforts through modeling, scenario building, and computer-assisted group decision making. USGS scientists from the Center for Biological Informatics, Rocky Mountain Mapping Center, and Water Resources are submitting a proposal to provide interdisciplinary support and information for testing of this DSS tool in northwest Arkansas. This two-year effort will involve developing pilot scenarios and models in a selected portion of the two-county area in 2000, with plans to expand to a larger portion of the two-county region in 2001. (Ralph Root, Denver, 303-202-4232)

• NBII Metadata Training. On October 19, Jennifer Gaines of the USGS Office of Biological Informatics and Outreach will conduct a one-day National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Metadata briefing at the USGS Midcontinent Environmental Science Center in Fort Collins, Colorado. On October 20-21, the National Park Service (NPS) Intermountain Support Office will conduct an NBII Metadata Training Workshop at the Denver Federal Center, with instructors Michelle Gudorf (NPS) and Gaines. This workshop is being funded by the Federal Geographic Data Committee's "Don't Duck Metadata" 1999 funding program. Registered participants include University of Denver faculty. On October 25-27, Gaines and Sharon Shin (USGS Center for Biological Informatics) will conduct a half-day NBII Metadata Workshop at the Fourth Microcomputer Applications in Fish and Wildlife Conference in Stateline, Nevada. Sheryl Sombrowski, Fish and Wildlife Information Exchange, will also participate as a trainer-in-training. The conference is co-sponsored by the Organization of Fish and Wildlife Information Managers, the Computer Users Section of the American Fisheries Society, and the Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing Working Group of the Wildlife Society. On November 6-10, Helena Schaefer (USGS National Wetlands Research Center) and Sombrowski will conduct two half-day NBII Metadata Workshops at the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Conference in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Sharon Shin, Denver, 303-202-4230)

• Metadata Module Development. On September 27-29, Sharon Shin and Jennifer Gaines participated in a Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Metadata Modules Development Workshop at NOAA's Coastal Services Center (CSC) in Charleston, South Carolina. Shin and Anne Ball (NOAA-CSC) are co-chairing the module development effort. Twelve participants representing Federal and State governments and universities developed multiple modules for teaching metadata to various interest levels. The materials will be developed to completion at participants’ sites and submitted for review and integration by Shin and Ball. Further review by participants and a peer review group is also scheduled. Final draft materials will be developed under contract for distribution by the FGDC. Anticipated completion of this project is early 2000. (Sharon Shin, Denver, 303-202-4230)

• Metadata Seminar Presented to GIS Club. On September 23, Sharon Shin of the USGS Center for Biological Informatics (CBI) presented an NBII Metadata seminar to the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Club at Metropolitan State College of Denver. The materials provided during the seminar will subsequently be used for classroom instruction. In 1989, Shin developed and taught the first GIS course at the college. (Sharon Shin, Denver, 303-202-4230)

III. Notable Congressional Activity: No report.

IV. Press/Media Inquiries: No report.