GISCorps: GIS Professionals
Volunteering for Communities in Need
2015 Levin College Research Conference
August 20, 2015
Mark Salling, PhD, GISP
Summary
 History/Model/Volunteers
 GISCorps Missions
 WHO Volunteers’ presentations
Q&A
History of GISCorps
GISCorps started with a simple
idea and question:
Would GIS professionals be
willing to volunteer their time and
expertise – for a short time – to
communities in need?
GISCorps Mission
A Program of Urban and Regional
Information System Association (URISA),
GISCorps coordinates short-term
volunteer GIS services to communities in
need worldwide
Areas of Service
 Services provided to assist with:
 Humanitarian Relief & Human Rights
 Disaster Response
 Conservation & Wildlife
 Environmental Quality
 GIS Education (K-12 & non K-12)
 Micro-lending
 Health & Human Services
 NGO Coordination
 “Expert” Crowdsourcing
GISCorps Model
 GISCorps Core Committee (CC) is responsible for:
 establishing relationships and partnerships with recognized
agencies & associations such as UN agencies, GSDI, Peace
Corps, and...
 evaluating/screening agencies – after receiving a request for
volunteers – to make certain their objectives are in synch with
GISCorps and URISA
 developing job descriptions – selecting a Project Manager
 screening and evaluating volunteers - matching volunteers’
expertise with project’s needs
 putting the volunteer in contact with the Partner Agency
 monitoring and evaluating the outcome
GISCorps Model
(continued)
 Projects are Remote or On-site
 GISCorps does not pay for its volunteers’
expenses, on-site or remote missions, the Partner
Agency does
 A recent change in policy allows for provision of
minimal assistance to qualified projects
Volunteers’ Profile
GISCorps Volunteer Count (2003-2015)
4000
3800
3400
3500
3000
2700
3000
2490
2500
2100
2000
1650
1215
1500
930
1000
270
500
41
70
0
Oct-03
Oct-04
Aug-05
Oct-05
Apr-08
Sep-09
Sep-10
Oct-11
Jul-12
Jun-13
May-14
• Currently have over 3,800 volunteers & 2,200 registered “friends”
July-15
Volunteers’ Locations
 +/- 3,800 (July 2015) volunteers reside in 98 countries
 78% of them reside in the US and Canada
 Volunteers provide expertise in:
 Capacity Building (training & technical
workshops)
 GIS Needs Assessment & Strategic Planning
 Building/Designing/Cleansing spatial & nonspatial database
 Remote Sensing
 Spatial Analysis & Modelling
 Geo-coding
 Application development
 Quality Control
Missions 2004-2015
As of July 2015, engaged in 167 missions in
59 countries; deployed 907+ volunteers:
 38 on-site missions; deployed 88 volunteers
 129 remote missions; deployed 819 volunteers
Deployments are to emergency (61) as well as
non emergency (106) missions (36% DR)
Missions’ Locations
(in 59 countries)
GISCorps Missions 2004-2015 (July)
Total: 167 projects & 907 deployed volunteers
244
250
208
200
137
150
78
100
50
47
50
39
50
13
2
2
0
Projects
Volunteers
2004
2
2
20
12
8
9
9
2005
8
47
2006
9
13
2007
9
12
26
14
12
8
2008
14
50
2009
12
20
2010
8
50
Projects
24
20
21
10
2011
26
78
Volunteers
2012
24
137
2013
20
39
2014
21
208
2015
10
244
Missions 2014-2015
Humanitarian OpenStreetMap (HOT) – Nepal Earthquake
49 volunteers digitized various features
Total time reported at: +/- 470 hours
UNOCHA & ACAPS – Nepal Earthquake
Cleansing Nepal’s Census Data
Volunteers: Mark Salling & Charlie Post
NetHope Ebola Response Project – East Africa
Various GIS related tasks & products
9 Volunteers: German Whitley, Liz Dow, DeAnna Hohnhorst, Melodie Grubbs,
Katie Mayr, Alice Pence, Nathan Shemella, Grace Lee & Carol Kraemer
National Association of County and City Health Officials
NACCHO – Ebola Response Maps
Generating Static and Online Maps
Volunteer: Ian Dunn
Kabale University– Uganda
Teaching GIS & Remote Sensing
Volunteers: Joey Abrams & Adam McKay
Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN)/UNOCHA
Typhoon Pam
Social Media Early Indication Maps &
Health & Medical Update Maps
Volunteers: 17 volunteers
Mimika Land Rights Project – West Papua
Remote Sensing/Change Detection
Volunteer: Mike Alonzo (CA)
DHN/Humanity Road– Philippines
Typhoon Hagupit
Catalogue all Published Mapping Products
Volunteers: Leonard Olyott & Keeve Brine
DHN/Standby Task Force– Philippines
Typhoon Hagupit/Ruby
Classify Social Media Posts on MicroMappers
15 GISCorps Volunteers
USGS/iCoast– US/NY/NJ
Crowd Sourcing Post Sandy Images
Pilot Project: “Did the coast change?”
111 GISCorps Volunteers
Kabul Polytechnic University– Afghanistan
Teaching GIS & Remote Sensing to KPU Faculty
Volunteers: Heath Robinson & Stephane Henriod
International Rescue Committee (IRC) – DRC
Digitizing Health Zones & Publishing on AGO
Volunteers: Barry Gauthier and Dimo Diakov
1947 Partition Archive Project – India/Pakistan
Publishing Web Application of Events
Volunteer: Jason Lampel
World Humanitarian Summit (WHS)
Publishing Event Info Using Tableau
Volunteer: Katie Mayr
Young Voices For The Planet
Creating a Story Map
Volunteer: Pamela Bond
WFP/iMMAP – North Korea
Digitizing the Base Map
Volunteers: 86 volunteers; 5 year project
Missions in progress
1. An expert volunteer geocoder/programmer assisting a project in Guatemala;
geocoding locations of microinsurance holders; a prototype
2. Volunteer assisting in creating a new web map – Laos: Map Our World app
3. The Uyghur Human Rights Project - China: mapping incidents of violence
and arrests
4. TerraWatchers: crowd sourcing project: examine archaeological sites for
evidence of looting and other military-related damage; 96 volunteers
5. Geotag-X: UNOSAT/UNITAR, crowd sourcing project; 74 volunteers
Missions 2014-2015
Ebola Project with the World Health
Organization (WHO)
Jeff Pires (Geneva)
Charleen Gavette (Liberia)
Leslie Zollman (Ghana)
At the heart of volunteerism are the ideals of service and solidarity and the
belief that together we can make the world a better place.
Volunteers do not ask, “why volunteer?”, but rather “when?”, “where?” and
“how?”.
These dedicated and courageous individuals are important partners in the
quest for a better, fairer and safer world.
Kofi Annan, 5 December 2003
www.giscorps.org
info@giscorps.org