$30,000 Grant Boosts Geographic Information Systems on Campus

A $30,000 grant from the Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation will allow Knox College faculty and students across a broad range of disciplines the opportunity to pursue expanded research through the use of geographic information systems (GIS).

“The generosity of the Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation allows Knox to improve the infrastructure for GIS by expanding and upgrading the technologies needed for teaching and research across the disciplines,” said Lawrence Breitborde, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college.

GIS technology allows researchers to explore the spatial distribution of their subjects of study, whether features of the natural environment, voting patterns, or other human behavior. Recent GIS applications on the Knox campus have ranged from the analysis of gender distributions among the world’s nations, to studying the proximity of neighborhood parks in the city of Chicago.

The Scripps funds will allow Knox to expand the College’s GIS research opportunities through the establishment of the Ellen Browning Scripps GIS Laboratory, located in the Umbeck Science and Mathematics Center, which is in close proximity to the environmental studies program. The grant will be used to purchase several PC desktop and laptop systems for in-house and field use, several GPS receivers, and a digital projection system for group and classroom activities.

Knox will also use the grant to create two satellite GIS resource stations on campus, allowing other academic departments to have access to the technology. One station will be located in the instructional technology resource laboratory in the Umbeck Center, the other in a technology classroom in George Davis Hall on the east side of campus.

Dr. Katherine A. Adelsberger will join the Knox faculty in fall 2008 in the newly created position of assistant professor in environmental studies. An expert in academic applications of GIS, Adelsberger will teach courses on the science of GIS, provide training and guidance for Knox faculty in its use and applications, and create advanced research opportunities for Knox students through involvement in her own research program.

This new position is made possible by a $1-million faculty endowment by Douglas L. ’66 and Maria Bayer of Bellevue, Washington.

Faculty and staff will also be assisted in the use of the technology by Victoria Romano, recently named coordinator of instructional technology support. Her office will be responsible for promoting and supporting the use of technologies, such as GIS, for academic and research purposes.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 45 states and 44 nations. Knox’s “Old Main” is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.