The Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium

Past Conferences
2004 St. Cloud, MN
2003 St. Paul, MN
2002 Duluth, MN
2001 Duluth, MN

MN GIS/LIS Conference Outstanding Keynote Speakers!

Two dynamic speakers will address this year's conference.

• 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - Karen Siderelis, Associate Director for Geospatial Information at theUnited States Geological Survey (USGS)

Karen Siderelis was named the first federal Geospatial Information Officer (GIO) in the nation and currently serves as the Associate Director for Geospatial Information and Chief Information Officer at the USGS. The recent creation of the National Geospatial Programs Office under her direction signals major changes at the USGS, bringing several important GIS programs - The National Map, Geospatial One-Stop, and the Federal Geographic Data Committee - into a single program office. As the largest traditional federal partner of the GIS community, the USGS is experiencing many changes likely to affect its partners. This reorganization aligns the agency to work more fully and directly with state and local governments. Ms. Siderelis will discuss current geospatial activities at the USGS and explain how new changes may benefit the Minnesota mapping community.

• Noon Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - Rob Nurre, The Surly Surveyor

Step back in time 150 years, grab your chain and compass, round up your bearing axe and get ready to conduct the first survey of Minnesota. Rob Nurre, Land Records Manager for the State of Wisconsin Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, will close the conference with an entertaining and informative performance assuming the personality of the land surveyor that first mapped the area now known as St. Cloud, Minnesota. Rob will explain the difficulties surveyors faced during those years, offer fun facts about St. Cloud and Minnesota, and stress the importance of those original survey records to everyone living in Minnesota today. This is a performance you will not want to miss.