BETHESDA, MD - April 27, 2011 - The current Chair of the Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO) announced today that the Coalition has selected as the 2012 Coalition Chair Dr. Carolyn J. Merry, American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) Delegate to COGO. Ms. Geney Terry, 2011 Chair of COGO indicated that Dr. Merry’s selection was made by unanimous consent of the Coalition.

Dr. Merry is the Chair of the Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science Department at The Ohio State University (OSU) and has been an active ASPRS member since 1975. She will serve as COGO Chair-Elect in 2011, with her duties as Chair commencing on January 1, 2012. Dr. Merry made the following statement after learning of her selection:

“As Chair-Elect of COGO for 2011, and Chair in 2012, I will work to increase the visibility of the Coalition and improve its recognition as a voice of consensus on issues facing the geospatial industry. The challenge for COGO is to bring the organizations together in a forum that will allow for the coordination of broader policy positions, and expressing a consensus of opinion and advocacy for issues that are important to all sectors of the geospatial industry. I will facilitate more open communications between all member organizations to keep the entire geospatial community better informed of members’ activities and endeavors, encouraging partnerships in these activities.”

In addition to her faculty and chair responsibilities at OSU, Dr. Merry serves as the Director of the Center for Mapping. She was a co-Principal Investigator for the National Consortium on Remote Sensing in Transportation (NCRST) that was funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation. She was involved with the follow-on consortium Center for the Remote Sensing of Traffic Activities (CRESTA) with researchers from OSU, University of Arizona and Michigan Tech Research Institute. During a sabbatical to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in 1977-78, she worked on educational outreach for the Landsat-7 satellite.

Previous to OSU, Merry was a Research Physical Scientist at the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, in Hanover, New Hampshire. Her scientific service includes authorship of several chapters of books, service on proposal review panels for the National Science Foundation, and service on fellowship review panels for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She is currently on the Advisory Board for the U.A. Whitaker School of Engineering at Florida Gulf Coast University. She received her BS in Geology from Edinboro University, a MA in Geology from Dartmouth College, and a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland.

The Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO) (www. Cogo.pro) is a coalition of 12 national professional societies, trade associations, and membership organizations in the geospatial field, representing more than 30,000 individual producers and users of geospatial data and technology. COGO has four advisory organizations for which geospatial issues are of critical importance, but not the primary focus.

The purpose of COGO is to provide a forum for organizations concerned with national geospatial issues that will 1) improve communications among the member organizations (and others), 2) provide educational information on relevant issues for their respective memberships, 3) align and strengthen their respective policy agendas, and 4) facilitate development of strategies to address national issues.

The objectives in carrying out its purpose are:

1. Developing programs of coordination and mutual action by member organizations that positively affect the interests of the membership from each of the Member and Advisory organizations. Subjects may include, without limitation, legislation, agency policies and regulations, publications (including a website), conferences and seminars.
   
   
2. Providing a framework for maintaining awareness and coordinating policy positions of the organizations comprising COGO, as such policy positions relate to issues at the federal, state and local levels.

COGO actions are taken only upon the unanimous approval of its member organizations.

The Member Organizations of COGO are:

• American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM)
• American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS)
• Association of American Geographers (AAG)
• Cartography and Geographic Information Society (CAGIS)
• GIS Certification Institute (GISCI)
• International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO)
• Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors (MAPPS)
• National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC)
• United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF)
• University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS)
• Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA)

The Advisory Organizations are:

• National Association of Counties (NACo)
• National Emergency Number Association (NENA)
• Western Governors Association (WGA)
• American Planning Association (APA)

Contact:

Heather Staverman
Meetings/Marketing Manager
American Society for Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing (ASPRS)
5410 Grosvenor Lane, Suite 210,
Bethesda, MD 20814
Email Contact
Ph: 301.493.0290 ext. 106
Fx: 301.493.0208
www.asprs.org