John P. Wilson, Professor and Founding Director, USC Spatial Sciences Institute, and the Program Committee of the Los Angeles Geospatial Summit have announced the details of their 10TH annual hallmark annual conference: The 2020 Los Angeles Geospatial Summit will take place at the USC Hotel (3540 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007) on Friday, February 28, 2019, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

“The USC Spatial Sciences Institute established the Los Angeles Geospatial Summit to be a unique forum where geospatial industry and policy leaders and the next generation of geospatial innovators can share insights and ideas about current and emerging trends and opportunities with spatial sciences and technologies. Our Summit brings together students, researchers, entrepreneurs, and representatives from businesses, nonprofits, NGOs, and other entities from a wide range of disciplines and industries who analyze, model, and visualize location-based data. What distinguishes our Summit from other geospatial conferences is our mission to showcase the work of undergraduate and graduate students from the numerous Southern California different academic institutions which teach geography, geographic information science, spatial data science, and related disciplines and connect them with industry professionals,” said Wilson.

The Summit will kick off with a keynote from Dr. Dawn Wright, Esri Chief Scientist, with a presentation entitled “GIS For Science.” Dr. Wright is a specialist in marine geology who has authored and contributed to some of the most definitive literature on marine GIS. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, of the Geological Society of America, of Stanford University's Leopold Leadership Program, and holds lifetime achievement awards from the American Association of Geographers and the Geological Society of America.

The Summit will also feature a group discussion on the topic of “GIS for Sustainability Science: How GIS is fundamental to our policies and practices that further sustainability and the betterment of society.”  The panel will be moderated by Dr. Robert O. Vos (Assistant Professor (Teaching) of Spatial Sciences and Director of Graduate Studies, USC Spatial Sciences Institute) and will feature Dr. Wright, Dr. Sarah Battersby (Research Scientist, Tableau), and Dr. Travis Longcore (Associate Adjunct Professor, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability).

“Closing out the program year’s Summit will be two panels on hot topics today,” said Susan H. Kamei, Managing Director of the Spatial Sciences Institute. “The panel on ‘Emerging Trends in Remote Sensing with Smallsats and UAVs’ will feature Michael Ann Lane, Global Education and Inside Sales Manager, Hexagon Geospatial; Jim Stokes, Vice President, Analytics & AI/ML Products, Maxar Technologies; and Steven Ward, Ph.D., GISP, Senior Director of Geospatial and Weather Sciences, The Climate Corporation; moderated by Andrew J. Marx, Ph.D., Associate Professor of the Practice, USC Spatial Sciences Institute and the Institute for Creative Technologies. In the closing session, we’ll examine “Opportunities With Geospatial Start-Ups,” with Andre Doumitt, Director – Innovation Development, The Aerospace Corporation; Todd Simon, Founder, Geospatial Alpha; and Melanie Stricklan, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Slingshot Aerospace; as speakers. Jason Knowles, Ph.D., CEO and Founder, GeoAcuity; Director of Geospatial Science and Technology, USC Institute for Creative Technologies; and Adjunct Associate Professor of the Practice, USC Spatial Sciences Institute, will moderate,” added Kamei.

Also featured will be Joanne Waggaman, Senior Manager, Accenture Applied Intelligence Group; Orhun Aydin, Ph.D., Product Engineer and Researcher, Esri, and Lecturer of the Spatial Sciences Institute; Isaiah Mack, Eclipse Mapping and GIS; and Thomas Horan, Ph.D., H. Jess and Donna Senecal Endowed Dean's Chair and Dean of Business School at University of Redlands School of Business.

The lunchtime “Knowledge Network” will include table presentations by the California Geographic Information Association, California State University, Long Beach, Eclipse Mapping and GIS, Esri, Gamma Theta Upsilon, USC Nu Theta Chapter, Hexagon, The Aerospace Corporation, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Redlands, USC Spatial Sciences Institute, and Women in GIS.

The event will feature lightning talk and poster presentations from students representing:

California State University, Long Beach
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Redlands
University of Southern California

The Spatial Sciences Institute acknowledges the contributions of the following academic colleagues who are preparing their students to participate in the 2020 Geospatial Summit: Drs. Nick Burkhart (Coordinator, Geospatial @ UCLA), Steven Moore (Director of the Center for Spatial Studies and Sponsored Programs Director, University of Redlands), and Suzanne P. Wechsler (Professor, Department of Geography, California State University, Long Beach.

This year’s Los Angeles Geospatial Summit is generously sponsored by The Aerospace Corporation, Eclipse Mapping and GIS, Esri, University of Redlands, Rick and Sheila Rozman, and the USC Spatial Sciences Institute as Gold Sponsors; Northrop Grumman as a Silver Sponsor; and Accenture, California Geographic Information Association, California State University, Long Beach, Hexagon Geospatial,  California Geographic Information Association (CGIA), and University of California, Los Angeles as Bronze Sponsors.

Summit Registration:

USC Hotel
3540 S Figueroa Street
Los Angeles CA 90007
Friday, February 23, 2018
8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

GIS and Geospatial sciences students from any college or university as well as industry professionals can register for the Summit here: https://dornsife.usc.edu/OnlinePayment/ssi/GeospatialSummit/registration.cfm

A detailed program breakdown of the Summit can be found here:
https://spatial.usc.edu/2020-los-angeles-geospatial-summit/2020-full-program/

Fees:
Early bird registration (ending January 21, 2020) is $85.
As of January 22, 2020, registration is $100.
Members of certain professional organizations get a registration rate of $70 (see website for details).
Student registration is $50.
Registration includes a continental breakfast and lunch.

Parking:
Event self-parking rate at the USC Hotel is $14/day.

The USC Hotel is conveniently located near the Jefferson station and the Exposition Park station on the Metro Expo Line.

About USC Spatial Sciences Institute:

Since its founding in 2010, the USC Spatial Sciences Institute has been using the power of connecting place, space, and time to help address global challenges, including those connected with population growth, environmental sustainability, and human well-being. Housed in the USC Dornsife College of letters, Arts and Sciences, the research and academic programs of the Spatial Sciences Institute contribute to the rapidly evolving body of geospatial knowledge and are innovating ways to empower decision makers with the analysis, modeling, and visualization of location-based data. As the hub of spatially related academic programs at USC, the Spatial Sciences Institute is unique in offering interdisciplinary courses and degrees at every higher educational level.

For more information about our research and academic programs, please visit spatial.usc.edu.

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