Efforts by Utah State University professor Doug Ramsey to preserve valuable information for current and future scientists in his field were recognized with a 2009 Outstanding Service Award from the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Ramsey, a faculty member in USU’s Department of Wildland Resources and director of the university’s Remote Sensing/Geographic Information Systems Laboratory, will receive the award at a ceremony during the society’s annual meeting March 8-13 in Baltimore.

Several years ago, Ramsey approached the society with the idea of scanning and converting the entire archive of the society’s Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing journals into searchable PDF documents. The collection, which spans 75 years and contains much of the groundbreaking research in the field, was largely unavailable through a Web-based library. Only recent issues had been posted. The society responded with enthusiasm and provided journals that Ramsey processed over a two-year period.

 

“The process sounds a bit mundane — and it was, at times,” Ramsey says. “But looking through the old articles gave me a better appreciation of the history of remote sensing. I do not know of anyone who has a complete collection of PERS journals and it was even difficult for ASPRS to collect all of them for me. “

 

Now, ASPRS members can access a complete online set.

 

“Having the articles at our members’ fingertips is a wonderful asset,” says Kass Green, ASPRS president. “It’s a tremendous gift to the society.”

 

Ramsey, currently on a year-long sabbatical, is devoting his most of his time to research manuscripts. He also made a recent trip to Amman, Jordan, to train Iraqi natural resource managers in geographic information systems technology.

 

In a two-week workshop funded and coordinated by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service and the U.S. Geological Survey, Ramsey guided agency scientists and university faculty from Iraq in the application of geostatistics and remote sensing.

 

 “Starting in 1990 with the U.N. embargo, technology transfer to Iraq was severely curtailed,” he says. “So the Iraqis are now more than 10 years behind most of the world when it comes to technological capability. Our role was to help the workshop participants access the technology and quickly become proficient in its use.”

 

His students included scientists and officials involved in water, air and agricultural management.

 

“All of the participants were very knowledgeable about their respective disciplines and conduct a significant amount of research,” Ramsey says. “In spite of the challenges they’re working under, they were upbeat, easy to joke with and hopeful about their country’s situation.”

 

USU College of Natural Resources

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