TSU Cooperative Extension provides the means to deliver GIS technologies to local decision makers
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Dr. Solomon Haile, Extension Assistant Professor
aking decisions based on a spatial perspective is basic to human thinking. Recent years have seen a rapid growth in interest in the addition of a spatial perspective to agricultural and forestry extension and research projects. This growth has been partly driven by the increasing availability of georeferenced data and the tools to analyze and visualize them via geospatial information systems (GIS) and spatial analysis. The term "geospatial information science" has emerged as something of an umbrella in this arena, implying the use of GIS and other spatial tools for understanding the fundamental principles and issues of this newly recognized spatial perspective.
Dr. Solomon Haile is currently leading a project and developing a new Cooperative Extension program at Tennessee State University emphasizing education and technology transfer of geospatial information systems (GIS) and related technologies to clients throughout the State of Tennessee. The project aims to jump-start the adoption and use of geospatial information science in extension services among the current cohort of young agricultural extension professionals and to build the infrastructure for GIS outreach and training workshop series. A comprehensive mobile GIS Learning Lab that includes a lightweight and durable classroom set with fast computing capability, that will provide a high quality visual cartographic display is in
"Dr. Solomon Haile is currently leading a project and developing a new Cooperative Extension program at TSU emphasizing education and technology transfer of GIS and related technologies to clients throughout the [. . . ] Tennessee. "
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place and ready to use in this project. The program will provide standardized training and is specifically tailored toward environmental, agricultural and local government applications of GIS. The Applied GIS workshop will be offered four times over two years and will primarily target extension agents, specialists and researchers at the College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Sciences, and institutional members of the wider campus of Tennessee State University. For more information about GIS or the mobile GIS Learning Lab, contact Dr. Solomon Haile at shaile@tnstate.edu.