USGIF Participates in National Geography Awareness Week

November 23, 2011

During the week of November 13 – 19, 2011, USGIF participated in two different activities in celebration of National Geography Week. USGIF President Keith J. Masback contributed to an educational seminar on geo-literacy for Hill staffers on November 16th in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The purpose of this seminar was to encourage support for the Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act or TGIF. TGIF was introduced in the Senate as S. 434 by Senators Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD). As of November 10, 2011, 13 Senators have signed on as co-sponsors of TGIF in the 112th Congress.

During the seminar, Masback shared his insight on how important geospatial intelligence work is to national security, the link between geography education and preparing for work in geospatial intelligence. He later divulged the statistics on jobs within the field that go unfilled because there aren’t enough young American citizens prepared to take these highly skilled jobs. Other speakers atthis seminar came from organizations such as NG Education, CH2M Hill, Association of American Geographers, Esri, National Geographic Education and Google.

Later in theweek on November 19, USGIF exhibited at George Mason University’s GIS Day exhibiting in their career and internship fair in hopes of bringing more awareness to the Foundation’s mission and its educational offerings. The day’s theme was “Census and its role in research and in GIS Careers”. With this theme in mind, Academic Director R. Maxwell Baber presented a brief keynote address on the growing importance of quality population data for global security tostudents and attendees.

The purpose of National Geography Awareness Week is to encourage citizens young and old to think and learn about the interconnectedness of our world. Each year more than 100,000 Americans actively participate in Geography Awareness Week. Established by Presidential proclamation almost 25 years ago, this annual public awareness program organized by National Geographic Education Programs (NGEP) takes place the third week of November. Students, families and community members focus on the importance of geography through events, lessons, games and challenges; and often meet with policymakers and business leaders.

Learn more about TGIF

Learn more about Geography Awareness Week