Howard T. Fisher Prize in Geographic Information Science

Winners, Academic Year 2004-2005

ANNOUNCEMENT

The Committee of the Howard T. Fisher Prize in Geographical Information Science, Harvard University, is pleased to announce the recipients of the award for the academic year 2004-2005:

In their review, the judges noted: "Lynch succeeded to integrate in a very systematic way data from different sources and formats and to develop a unique geo-referenced database ... to communicate her results in a clear and well organized manner." ..." well defined in scope, and the outcome seems convincing" ... " work going into the .. complex territory of linking analytical models to GIS." .." The paper is well written and some sophisticated statistical computation methods ...were used"

In the undergraduate category, Lee Murray '06 will be awarded a cash prize of $1,000 this month for his entry "Spatial Analysis of Redistricting of Congressional Districts in New York State Following the 2000 Census." Murray's entry described a project undertaken at the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences (DEAS) at Harvard College.

In their review of the work, the judges' comments included: "Murray's paper brought GIS together with statistical analysis to lead to conclusions that would not otherwise been apparent. ...The paper is.. well presented and ...clearly shows passion for... research"

Professor Stephen Ervin

Chairman, HTFisher Prize Committe

Members of the Committee

The Howard T. Fisher Prize for excellence in Geographic Information Science was established (read press release ) in 1999 to promote and reward student work in this broad and potentially interdisciplinary area, from both undergraduate and graduate students at Harvard University.

See http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/prizes/gisprize for more information.

Howard Fisher, a geographer and mathematical cartographer, founded the Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 1965. His work and others' from that laboratory led directly to the computer-based technology that subsequently became widely known as GIS (Geographic Information Systems.) Fisher valued the communicative and explanatory power of maps, and developed techniques from computer and information science to expand the capabilities for producing and analyzing maps, and managing spatial data in general.

  For questions or commments , please contact Stephen Ervin ( servin@gsd.harvard.edu) or Lucia Lovison-Golob (lovison@eps.harvard.edu )