Wednesday, November 18 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m., Paley Library Lecture Hall Temple University Libraries Celebrate National GIS Day! On Wednesday, November 18th, 2009, join Temple University Libraries in celebrating National GIS Day. The two hour event will begin at 11:00 AM with presentations by invited speakers, followed with a reception. Matthew Harris will make the first presentation. A Master’s graduate from Temple’s Anthropology Department, Harris will speak on the topic of applying GIS skills in the Social Sciences. He will draw on his experiences as an archeologist, GIS analyst, and GIS manager to discuss the importance of finding a niche and creatively using GIS in a chosen field of study. Using examples from current and past projects, he will illustrate ways that GIS is applied to the field of Cultural Resources and more broadly to a number of GIS applications. The second presentation will be given by Robert Cheetham, founder and CEO of Avencia Inc., a software design and development firm for geospatial analysis tools and services, with particular expertise in natural resource planning, economic development, crime analysis, real estate property analysis, and cultural resources. He also serves on the advisory board of the Penn State Master’s in GIS program, and has served as the Senior GIS Developer for the City of Philadelphia and as Crime Analyst for the Philadelphia Police Department. In his presentation, Cheetham will highlight recent GIS initiatives at Avencia, including the PhillyHistory project as well as describe how the Avencia staff integrate GIS training. The presentations will be followed by a reception with light fare and opportunities to meet the speakers and other guests. Please forward this announcement to students and others who are interested in GIS. I look forward to seeing everyone in the Philadelphia GIS community.