<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Artur Gil</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:arturfreiregil@yahoo.com.br">arturfreiregil@yahoo.com.br</a>></span><br>
Date: 2010/11/1<br>Subject: [SIG] USGS Research Fellowship<br>To: <a href="mailto:SIG@listserv.rediris.es">SIG@listserv.rediris.es</a><br><br><br><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="font: inherit;" valign="top">
<h4>Understanding User Dimensions of the Geospatial Web</h4>
<p>The Geospatial Web (Scharl and Tochterman, 2007), or the merging of
location with content information on the Internet, has resulted from
both technical and social changes. Civilian access to GPS signals, the
availability of application programming interfaces (API) that enable the
mashup of geospatial data from disparate sources onto a map-based
platform, the increasing maturity of open-source geospatial software,
and the rapid spread of geo-enabled mobile devices have made it easier
for people to access and use geospatial data online. At the same time, a
culture of collaborative online mapping by users who are not GIS
professionals has emerged. Non-professional users of geospatial
information, rather than being passive recipients of maps and data from
official sources, have become a major source of creativity and
innovation in the Geospatial Web.</p>
<p>For example, OpenStreetMap (OSM) (<a href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/" target="_blank">http://www.openstreetmap.org/</a>),
an open source project, offers an alternative global base map
constructed entirely by volunteers, comparable in accuracy and
completeness to official base maps of national mapping agencies (Haklay,
2010). OSM and its timely citizen mapping effort were the base map of
choice for first responders in the Haitian earthquake.</p>
<p>The U.S> Geological Survey (USGS) has a vital interest in
understanding these non-professional and non-traditional users. The
recent USGS science strategy laid out six aspirational future science
directions for the agency: ecosystems; climate variability; a water
census of the United States; hazards, risk, and resilience; human
health; and energy and minerals (U.S. Geological Survey, 2007).
User-generated data and new Internet mapping technologies could
supplement data collection in these theme areas as well as facilitate
communities of interest among the general public. Citizen mapping
projects are worthy of study, as both social and technical phenomena, as
little is understood about the motivations of participants, the
accuracy and completeness of the data that are produced, or the best
methods to structure collaborations between professionals and citizen
scientists. </p>
<p>This Research Opportunity focuses on the impact the Geospatial Web will have on future users of The National Map (<a href="http://www.nationalmap.gov" target="_blank">www.nationalmap.gov</a>),
which provides a geospatial platform for integrated data exploration,
cross-disciplinary collaboration, and information visualization in a
geospatial context and is an important vehicle for realizing the vision
of the USGS science strategy. In addition to planning for the changing
nature of data users and their technologies, the concept of usability
must extend beyond traditional motions of the interface to consider the
context of the whole system of data, standards, and people that
constitute The National Map and its delivery system—the Internet, and
the devices with which it is accessed. The potential research topics can
be quite wide ranging and can be attacked by both quantitative and
qualitative methodologies or by a combination. How will The National Map
of the future support interactive visualizations of scientific data?
How can the interface be improved? What are the emergent trends in
crowdsourcing and social networking, and what are their implications for
geospatial data and the USGS? How should data be delivered to mobile
devices, and how can mobile devices be used for updating databases? What
motivates citizen scientists? How do communities, whether groups of
scientists, decisionmakers, or citizens, collaborate using high
performance computing? The ideal candidate will have experience using
quantitative and qualitative methods to study emerging trends in
human-computer interface (CHI) research and user-centered design as they
relate to the Geospatial Web, an emerging area of research for
GIScience at the USGS according to the National Research Council (2007).
Project topics can be drawn from the six USGS science themes discussed
above. We have a particular interest in proposals that deal with the
hazards, risk, and resilience theme. Proposals should demonstrate
creative thinking and have strong theoretical and empirical components.</p>
<p>Geographic information science research for The National Map is
conducted by the Center for Excellence in Geographical Information
Science (CEGIS) (<a href="http://www.cegis.gov/" target="_blank">http://www.cegis.gov</a>),
a distributed team of researchers with affiliates at Colorado
University, The Pennsylvania State University, and the University of
California at Santa Barbara. Candidates will have broad opportunity to
interact with these researchers, who have ongoing projects on such
topics as user-centered design, ontology, generalization, and
cyberinfrastruture. The candidate can also draw on an established
network of Federal, State, and local government agencies that contribute
data to The National Map. There will be opportunities for the candidate
to mentor several Ph.D. students. </p>
<h4>References</h4>
<p>Haklay, M., 2010, How good is OpenStreetMap information? A
comparative study of OpenStreetMap and Ordnance Survey datasets:
Environment and Planning B, v. 37, p. 682–703.</p>
<p>National Research Council, 2007, A research agenda for geographic
information science at the United States Geological Survey: Washington,
DC, National Academy Press [<a href="http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12004" target="_blank">http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12004]</a>.</p>
<p>Scharl, A., and K. Tochterman, eds., 2007, The Geospatial Web: London: Springer.</p>
<p>U.S. Geological Survey, 2007, Facing tomorrow's challenges: U.S.
Geological Survey Science in the decade 2007-2017: U.S. Geological
Survey Circular 1039 [<a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2007/1309/" target="_blank">http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2007/1309/</a>].</p>
<p><b>Proposed Duty Station:</b> Saint Petersburg, FL; Denver, CO</p>
<p><b>Areas of Ph.D.: </b>GIScience, geography, human-computer
interface (CHI) or graphic design (candidates holding a Ph.D. in other
disciplines but with knowledge and skills relevant to the Research
Opportunity may be considered).</p>
<p><b>Qualifications:</b> Applicants must meet one of the following qualifications: <a href="http://geology.usgs.gov/postdoc/2012/qualifications.html#res_geog" target="_blank">Research Geographer</a>, <a href="http://geology.usgs.gov/postdoc/2012/qualifications.html#res_phys" target="_blank">Research Physical Scientist</a><br>
(This type of research is performed by those who have backgrounds for
the occupations stated above. However, other titles may be applicable
depending on the applicant's background, education, and research
proposal. The final classification of the position will be made by the
Human Resources specialist.)</p>
<p><b>Research Advisor:</b> Barbara Poore, (727) 803-8747 x. 3095, <a href="mailto:bspoore@usgs.gov" target="_blank">bspoore@usgs.gov</a></p>
<p><b>Human Resources Office Contact</b>: Diann Benallo, (303) 236-9554, <a href="mailto:dbenallo@usgs.gov" target="_blank">dbenallo@usgs.gov</a></p></td></tr></tbody></table><br>
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