Bad weather, good news

The Bergen Record reports that this year's "bad weather" is good news in the fight against the emerald ash borer.

What CAN'T maps do?

The Star-Ledger has used maps to get us a step closer to understanding North Jersey's great Taylor Ham/Pork Roll divide.

Going temporality insane?

The last AAG included a big push on the budding research area of spatio-temporal research. Now I see it featured in a symposium in Ediburgh called, Temporal Design: An Interdisciplinary Workshop. Maybe it represents a convergences between the two fields, or maybe it is just another coincidence as the inescapable nature of time remains an inevitable topic for those seeking grand challenges and big issues. Either way, it makes for some fascinating reading.

GIS STEM software for schools

While I don't think that many people inside GIS doubt that GIScience is a central piece of the STEM fields, it is nice to have the White House on board with the idea.

Early census mapping

Disunion, the NY Times Civil War blog, has a fascinating blog post by UDenver's Susan Schulten spinning a Louisiana map of slave populations into a discussion of the early use of census mapping during the Civil War.

Rachel Carson birthday quotes

Today is Rachel Carson's 107th birthday. We can celebrate with quotes...

The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster.

or

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter. ― in Silent Spring

or

This is an era of specialists, each of whom sees his own problem and is unaware of or intolerant of the larger frame into which it fits.

or full passages from her writing.

Happy birthday reading.

Old becomes new again

As a former driver of a walking school bus, I am surprised to see it get rediscovered. But that is where we are.Providence, RI, Sioux City, IA, and Columbia, MO are all among the cities featured in this news story for rediscovering the walking school bus.

The WSB is a very popular trend to fight obesity, trim school budgets, make school a little more fun and keep kids safe. But, with roots going back (at least) to the early 1990s, it is far from new.


Of course, the entire idea of walking to school is just a new old idea too.

Endangered buildings and sites in NJ

Preservation New Jersey has released their 2014 list of endangered historic sites in New Jersey. The Star-Ledger reports that it includes a house owned by Rutgers and an entire small community in South Jersey. Check out the entire list.

NJ Sandy recovery editorial

The NY Times has a short editorial on HUD's new review of NJ's Sandy recovery efforts. \

At a recent set of studio presentations, an interesting discussion came up about the scale of Rutgers Gardens compared with some other comparable landscapes. So, here are some embedded Google Maps of different landscapes all at the same scale. Notice how much gets jammed into one place and how happens in a similarly sized space elsewhere. 

Rutgers Gardens

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

NJ Landscape Project Training and Information Webinar Session

The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife is inviting the public to attend a Webinar on the Landscape Project, an interactive ecosystem-based mapping tool that assists government agencies, planners, conservation groups, the public and others in making decisions that will protect imperiled and special concern wildlife.

The NJ Landscape Project Training and Information Webinar Session will take place on May 28, 2014, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

To register, visit: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/892245144

The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife's Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP) offers training and information sessions on the Landscape Project at locations throughout the state. This Webinar will provide a convenient and environmentally friendly way for attendees to participate remotely.

This session will include an overview of the Landscape Project mapping method and applications and cover the updates and enhancements to the project and will provide participants an opportunity to use GIS "hands-on" to access habitat maps for threatened and endangered wildlife species.

Please Note:

Access to ArcGIS software is required in order to complete the ArcGIS exercise included in this Webinar.

Participants with access to ArcGIS software will have to download the Landscape Project GIS files prior to the start of the Webinar in order to complete the ArcGIS exercise included in the Webinar.  Files can be downloaded from DEP's Bureau of GIS at http://www.state.nj.us/dep/gis/landscape.html#geodatabase

It is highly recommended that users download the File Geodatabase files.

Register for this session now:

Wednesday, May 28, 2014 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/892245144

Once registered you will receive an e-mail confirming your registration with information you need to join the Webinar.

System Requirements

PC-based attendees

Required: Windows(r) 8, 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Mac(r)-based attendees

Required: Mac OS(r) X 10.6 or newer

Bucky! Say it ain't so

The NY Times reports that the World's Fair dome at the Queens Zoo may not really be a  Buckminster Fuller design, or at least as much as we thought. What's next? Will the Fuller map projection turn out to be designed by a guy name Dymax?

What does the NJ DEP do?

Have you looked at the list of activities that keep the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJ DEP) busy?

Some Reading Days TV

PBS is running a repeat showing tonight of Secrets of the Dead: The Lost Gardens of Babylon tonight. It is a great mix of history and landscapes.

The annual NJ GIS show off day

Geotechnology Ideas, Innovations & Applications

The 7^th Annual Showcase of Lightning Talks At The New Jersey Geospatial Forum

 Friday, June 6^th 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

NJ Office of Information Technology, 1^st Floor ITC Room,

300 Riverview Plaza, Trenton, NJ 08611

Do you have an exciting project, application or use of Geospatial Technology?

 This is your opportunity to give a 6 minute talk on your latest geospatial idea and learn from other GIS professionals in the NJGF Community.  Potential topics include: Web & Mobile Applications, GIS Analysis, Modeling, LiDAR, Programming, Creative GIS Projects, or any Geospatial rant or idea you wish to discuss.

If you would like to give a talk, please contact:

 Chris McClain    cmcclain@brickmua.com or

Trish Long           trish.long@nj.usda.gov

 

You are receiving this email because you joined the Forum through your NJGIN profile.  To change your preferences, edit the relevant setting in your profile on our website: https://njgin.state.nj.us/NJ_NJGINExplorer/index.jsp

New urbanism links and photos

For those still curious about New Urbanism after today's brief discussion, a good place to start learning about New Urbanism is the website for the Congress of New Urbanism. It includes an Introduction to New Urbanism, images, award winning examples, and their integration into the LEED standards.

 Here are some photos of The Kentlands in Gaithersburg, MD.

  

A trio of Cook Scholars in the news

The campus is still abuzz with discussions of yesterday afternoon's GH Cook Scholar presentations  by 3 outstanding landscape architecture students, Rebecca Cook (no relation), Michelle Hartman, and Jessie Woods. So, it should come as no surprise that these three made the newspaper today with their research-backed visions for the campus.

Keep choppin'

Will this new axe cause Rutgers football to change its Keep Choppin' motto?

Watch the hydrographs spike

Wow. What a rainstorm! Has the river crested? You can watch yourself with these USGS hydrographs.


Way upstream in Bedminster:
  
 

A little upstream of Rutgers at Manville:

A little closer at Bound Brook:
 

And downstream a ways at South Amboy: