August  2015 

This month in Rio de Janerio Australia’s own, Dr David Fraser was recognised on the international stage with the ICA awarding him the Diploma for Outstanding Services to the ICA.  David has served for many years with the Commission on Education and Training, including time as Chair from 2007 to 2012. He is also the editor of the richly  informative eCarto publication.

In David’s acceptance speech he spoke of the personal reward he experience by working with the ICA. He thanked the ICA Executive for their support of the commission and their enthusiasm for introducing new initiatives.  One of the key projects from the Education and Training commission‘s 4 strategy was organising seminars on cartography and cartographic education in  developing nations.  David was particularly proud of his involvement in workshops run in Iran, Indonesia and Vietnam, involvement that continues with workshops being organised in Tonga and Fiji for 2016.

A key point made by David was that most of the work done by the ICA is based on individuals volunteering their time, a point reiterated in the ICA President Georg Gartner’s report to the General Assembly. Organisations like, ICA and MSIA survive and proposer due to the generous acts of members, volunteering their time and energy to help others, and in our case, fellow mapping science professionals.  David encouraged young cartographers to get involved, “you will make friends from many countries and be swept up by the passion that many cartographers have for working in the international level.”  Whether it on the international or local level, this is a wonderful sentiment.   Volunteering also provides  opportunities to extend and develop your skills in areas that you may not get exposure to  in the workplace and that's a  great outcome for both the organisation and the individual.

Congratulations again to our national council member, Dr David Fraser on all of his achievements with the ICA and thank you also for your inspiring work done on the national and local level as well !

Trisha Moriarty

July 2015 

This month has seen the launch of the Australian National Map Competition, part of the Australian activities for the International Map Year. MSIA has joined the SSSI to invite cartographers and map makers to present their work in a forum that will celebrate the maps, both for the beautry and intrinsic value as a powerful form of communication. Entries are welcomed for both static and dynamic maps catergories and can be made by individuals or organisations. There is also a dedicated student category, open to all levels from primary, secondary and tertiary. Entries to the dynamic category will also be displayed at the upcoming Mobile Mapping Technology symposium, were attendees will be able to vote in the Special Peers Choice award.

More information can be found on the Australian National Map Competition page under the event section.

Please take the opportunity to spread the word among your colleagues and friends, its a wonderful opportunity to promote and celebrate the great work being done in Australia in the mapping sciences.

Trisha Moriarty

June 2015

The recent Power of Maps Conference, held at the National Gallery of Australia (NLA), Canberra was a great success, it’s the first of many events that MSIA will be running to promote and celebrate the International Year of the Map.

Twenty six papers were present on topics ranging from military mapping, map curatorship and mapping technologies.  In acknowledgment of the 100 year anniversary of the ANZAC Corps and the 100 year anniversary of the formation of the Royal Australian Survey Corps, two sessions were dedicated to military mapping.

The event was opened by the National Library’s Director General Anne-Marie Schwirtlich , with 3 excellent  keynote presentations by Professor Georg Gartner, President of the International Cartographic Association (ICA), Dr. Chris Pigram, CEO of Geoscience Australia (GA) and Mr. Khin Maung Maung, Managing Director, Geocomp International.

Close to 80 delegates attended each of the two days of presentations and around 40 delegates went on the excursion on the final day.  Congratulations to all the presenters, they took us on a journey that was fascinating, insightful and often quite poignant. Details of the talks can be found in the program available on the website and the presentations we have received permission to publish can be view there also. Selected papers will also be published in the ANZMapS Globe journal.

We also had the entrants to the Barbara Petchenik Children World Map Competition on display. Thank you to our organiser Doug Herrick and to the judges who took the time to review and select the winners. The winning maps will be sent to Brazil to partake in the international competition on display at the ICA's conference in August.

The Power of Maps conference was jointly organised by the Mapping Sciences Institute, Australia (MSIA) and the Australian and New Zealand Map Society (ANZMapS). I would like to thank my fellow organising committee members.  It’s the first time I have served in such a committee and it was a great developmental opportunity for me, made all the easier by the dedication and professionalism of the other members,  Dr. Martin Woods (ANZMapS President), Dr. Brendan Whyte (Assistant Map Curator, NAL), Kay Dancey (Australian National University (ANU), Jenny Sheehan (ANU) and Dr. David Fraser (MSIA)

Trisha Moriarty