Geomatics program begins next fall

from the UW media relations office

What are the forces driving land use change in the Amazon? Where is the best location for a business looking to expand? What areas of a city have higher rates of childhood asthma? How far back from a river does the risk of flooding and property damage extend? Those are just a few of the questions that students in a new program at UW will learn to answer.

Geomatics is a multi-disciplinary field applying the latest satellite and computing technologies to the study of environmental issues such as climate change, deforestation and urban growth. The undergraduate program was approved by UW's senate in June and will be offered next fall by the geography department, with support from the schools of computer science and planning.

Students will study environmental topics while acquiring skills in geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, modern surveying and mapping techniques, as well as computer programming. They will learn to apply that knowledge during co-operative education work terms, which could see them working in the Arctic or Australia.

"Statistics and data on their own aren't always meaningful," said geography professor Richard Kelly, one of the driving forces behind the program along with colleague Ian McKenzie. "Geomatics allows decision makers in many different fields to analyze and map information so they can make meaningful decisions." By deploying geomatics, he said, experts are able to figure out answers to such key questions as whether the amount of precipitation in an area is changing and what the implications of that change will be for agricultural crops.

Students will graduate with a Bachelor of Environmental Studies degree in honours geomatics. "They will enter a rapidly growing and dynamic field as geomatics is considered one of the three most important emerging and evolving fields, along with biotechnology and nanotechnology," says McKenzie.

Geomatics consists of a number of tools used to create a detailed but understandable picture of the world. GIS, a powerful computer-based tool, combines layers of information to give a better understanding of a place, such as finding the best location for a new store, analyzing environmental damage or viewing crimes in a city to detect a pattern.

Remote sensing involves cameras, imaging radars and thermal mappers mounted in airplanes or orbiting satellites to measure the Earth's surface, along with atmospheric patterns and processes. It provides information on natural and human environmental changes, such as global climate change and growth of urban areas. It also maps the effects of natural hazards, providing natural resource managers with key decision-making information. Surveying examines and collects information about the area and features of a given area in order to create a map or plan. Mapping takes spatial or geographic information and puts it into a two- or three-dimensional form. Global positioning system (GPS) uses a constellation of satellites to provide a person's exact location on the face of the Earth.

The geomatics program draws on core research and teaching strengths built up in the faculty of environmental studies over last 20 years under the leadership of UW professors Ellsworth LeDrew and Philip Howarth. Beginning with remote sensing research in 1982 and the first GIS courses in the mid-1980s, the faculty's research and teaching has grown to encompass a wide variety of courses in such fields as GIS, remote sensing, cartography, spatial analysis and field methods.

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53 Canadians among 86 job candidates

A total of 86 "proposals for regular faculty appointments" came to the university-wide committee that keeps track of them during 2005-06, says a report that's on the agenda for the UW senate's monthly meeting today.

The University Appointments Review Committee says the 86 proposals involved 53 Canadians (or permanent residents of Canada) and 33 people from outside the country. A total of 62 of them were eventually hired by the university. "UARC is aware of 21 who declined offers [or] accepted positions elsewhere," says the report, "and three decisions pending."

The total of 86 possible hires is slightly lower than the figures over the past three years — 92 in 2004-05, 97 in 2003-04, and 90 in 2002-03.

The report breaks down the number in various ways, indicating that 61 of the people to be offered jobs were men and 25 were women. (Those eventually hired: 42 men, 20 women.) There were 21 who would come to UW with tenure, 58 coming into probationary (tenure-track) positions, and 7 coming to definite-term appointments.

Arts accounted for the largest number of proposed hires, 26 of the 86, followed by science with 23, engineering with 16, mathematics with 14, applied health sciences with 4 and environmental studies with 3.

Science had the most potential professors from outside Canada, 10 of the 23; math had 8 foreign academics out of its 14. Under government rules that were last changed in 2001, the university can advertise a faculty job in Canada and overseas at the same time, but must state that "Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be given priority." That policy was scheduled for review in 2004-05, the UARC report says, but "there has been no word on whether or whether the current situation will change."

Today's senate meeting starts at 4:30 in Needles Hall room 3001. Agenda items, besides the UARC report, include academic program reviews on several departments, a review of the Heritage Resources Centre, and a report from the university librarian.

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IST will service alarm systems

Alarm systems in many of UW's buildings will be put in place and maintained by the university's own staff starting next month, the information systems and technology department has announced.

Says Roger Watt, director of network services in IST: "There are a number of physical-security systems in organizational units throughout the campus. They consist of door-alarm sensors and keypad access-control devices with user-number authentication controlled by application software on Windows servers. Some also include videocam surveillance.

"To date, these systems have been installed and serviced under an arrangement between UW Security and a local company, Security One Services. As a result of recent negotiations between IST and UW Security, these responsibilities have been transferred to IST's Network Services group. Network Services staff have been installing the network cabling for these systems for some time, and should be ready to assume full servicing responsibility by December 1. They will also be attending in-depth training courses over the next few months.

"Network Services will also assume responsibility for the selection of future systems as the technology evolves, in consultation with UW Security, Plant Operations, and organizational-unit managers and staff." People with questions about arrangements for the servicing of their system or the installation of a new system can contact Greg Cummings of IST, e-mail gcumming@uwaterloo.ca.

"It has been an honor and a pleasure knowing and serving you," says a farewell letter from Paul Tigert of Security One. "Thank you for your friendship and support over the years."

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A few other notes for a Monday

John Milloy, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Kitchener Centre, has a new role in Ontario's Liberal government, as he's been named parliamentary assistant to the minister of training, colleges and universities, Chris Bentley. He was previously assigned to the minister of intergovernmental affairs. "It's a great opportunity and a great fit," Milloy commented, pointing to two universities and a college in Kitchener-Waterloo. Milloy is a Carleton graduate with a master's from the London School of Economics and a doctorate from Oxford, both in history. Since the Liberals took power in 2003, he has been a frequent presence at UW as a representative of the provincial government, attending events such as the groundbreaking for the health sciences campus downtown (pictured). The health sciences outpost is in Milloy's riding, while the main campus is in Kitchener-Waterloo riding, which is represented by Elizabeth Witmer, a Progressive Conservative.

A humane society investigator visited UW Friday to look into complaints about the killing of four beavers that were living in Laurel Creek where it widens into a lake opposite the Modern Languages building. "The investigator has concluded there is no cruelty issue," a spokesman for the agency told the Record newspaper, saying the trapper who was hired to deal with the problem had long experience and worked using humane methods recommended under Ministry of Natural Resources guidelines. University officials say the damage done by the beavers reached a crisis point a week ago when one of the trees they gnawed down fell across a pedestrian walkway heading toward Conrad Grebel University College. Attempts to find a different way to deal with the beavers, such as trapping them alive and moving them to a more remote place, had failed, officials also say.

Jesse Rodgers, manager of web communications here in Communications and Public Affairs, keeps a close eye on the browsers that tens of thousands of people use to visit the UW home page and other key pages on the university's central web site. The numbers are changing rapidly, he says, with the spread of Microsoft's recently-released Internet Explorer 7. But as of a few days ago, 71 per cent of users were reaching UW using IE 6, 5 per cent using IE 7, 21 per cent using Firefox, 2 per cent using Safari and 1 per cent using Netscape or other browsers. Rodgers adds that 95 per cent of people connecting to the home page were working from Windows computers. Such information is vital to web developers who want to make sure that their pages will work efficiently with all browsers.

The holiday eating season is upon us, which is why flyers are out from the University Club announcing its Christmas lunch buffet daily (Monday to Friday) December 4 through 22, priced at $17.50, and a Christmas dinner buffet on December 6 and 13. . . . The departments of music and fine arts still have a few spaces available in the May "cultural excursion to England" (there's information online). . . . The UW Recreation Committee is sponsoring an evening session on "Beginner Scrapbooking" on Tuesday. . . .

The continuing education office has a one-day course this Wednesday on "Enhancing Your Business Writing Skills". . . . The UW bookstore's monthly book sale in the South Campus Hall concourse, Tuesday through Thursday, will be "an excellent opportunity for early Christmas shopping", says Kathryn King, the new marketing coordinator for UW's retail services. . . . Flooring work in the link between the Davis Centre and the Math and Computer building is continuing, and the third floor link is expected to be closed this week. . . .

And speaking of the Davis Centre, a Daily Bulletin item on Friday said the Midnight Sun VII solar car was now hanging in the Davis lounge. Apparently that was a misunderstanding on my part; I took "the fishbowl" to mean the glass-walled lounge, Davis room 1301, but in fact the car is hanging in the glass-walled atrium or "great hall" nearby.

CAR

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