MonticelloLive

Dr. Robert Weih, professor of forestry and director of UAM’s Spatial Information Systems program, inspects a map generated by the university’s SIS lab.

The Spatial Information Systems Program at the University of Arkansas at Monticello is receiving national attention.
Dr. Robert Weih, a professor in UAM’s School of Forest Resources, recently discussed the university’s SIS program with more than 300 scientists and educators at a national conference hosted by Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) August 4-8 in San Diego, Calif.
Weih gave an overview of the creation of the program, the curriculum used, and how the university assesses its courses and programs. UAM’s SIS program is currently the only degree-granting program in that discipline in Arkansas.
“UAM has one of the few stand-alone SIS programs in the country,” said Weih. “There is a lot of interest in what we’re doing. We’ve actually become a model program for other schools.”
According to Weih, ESRI has chosen UAM’s SIS program for inclusion in a CD of outstanding programs from across the nation.
The five-day conference drew more than 14,500 participants from across the U.S. as well as Europe, South America, India, Australia, China and Japan.
“It was an honor for Bob and for our program that he was selected to present at such a prestigious conference,” said Dr. Richard Kluender, dean of the School of Forest Resources and director of the Arkansas Forest Resources Center. “There was a great deal of interest in our SIS program from schools not only in the U.S. but internationally.”
Weih presented papers and four posters as a way of highlighting UAM’s program. Spatial Information Systems is a discipline that includes a mix of geographic information systems, remote sensing, global positioning systems, photogrammetry, and land surveying.