Academe Program Examines Impact of GIS
on Emergency Management

"The Gujarat Earthquake:
Geography, GIS, and Emergency Management,"
an Academe Presentation by Dr. Miriam Hill

According to Dr. Miriam Hill, "On January 26, 2001, an earthquake centered in the city of Bhuj, India, killed over 20,000 people. The geography of Gujarat, the westernmost state of India, helps to explain the conditions that led to the high number of fatalities and the difficulties encountered in the response and recovery efforts.

Geographic Information Science (GIS) and spatial analysis are important tools in emergency response and for exploring hazard events to improve mitigation and preparedness. The geographic techniques concentration at JSU gives students the skills they need to do public service mapping such as the cartographic and environmental analysis required by emergency managers."

Please join us at Academe on Wednesday, October 17, 2007, at 3:15 p.m., as Dr. Hill talks about Geographic Information Science and its impact on emergency management. The meeting will be held in 1101C Houston Cole Library.

Dr. Miriam Hill began teaching earth science in 1975. She received her doctorate from Kent State University in 1986. Her areas of expertise include physical, regional, and cultural geography, as well as geology and environmental science. Her dissertation work was in "behavioral geography and non-visual environmental perception."

Dr. Hill has been the recipient of both the Distinguished Teaching and Distinguished Research Awards from the College of Arts and Sciences since coming to JSU. Be sure to plan to attend her presentation on the 17th.

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