URISA’s GISCorps is pleased to announce its milestone 100^th mission. Since GISCorps was founded in 2003, 362 GISCorps volunteers have been deployed to 100 projects in 46 countries. They have collectively contributed over 11,500 hours to these projects. The deployed volunteers come from 35 countries.

The 100^th mission, "WatchTheMed", is in partnership with several academic and research organizations led by the Forensic Oceanography (FO) research project (GISCorps’ second project with this group). They requested volunteers for a project concerning the death of migrants at sea (Mediterranean). Three volunteers are providing remote sensing, data mining, and data conversion services to their team.

In addition to this project, GISCorps has recently launched several new projects and have concluded a few others. These include: A 3-phased project with USAID resulting in deploying 58 volunteers; deploying 20 additional volunteers to DRPK project; conclusion of a K-12 mission in Albania; and finalizing two remote sensing related projects in Mozambique and Oklahoma (Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge). Several more missions are also underway at this time.

Earlier this year, GISCorps was recognized by the White House with the 2012 Presidential Volunteer Service for ‘making a difference through volunteer service’ and also received a Daily Point of Light award.

As in previous years, URISA’s GISCorps will be well-represented at the 2012 Esri User Conference, with a substantial display in the Map Gallery and several planned activities. Of course, the celebration will continue this Fall during GIS-Pro 2012: URISA’s 50^th Annual Conference in Portland, Oregon.

“It is amazing what volunteers can do to make the world a better place. So many individuals have given their valuable time since 2003 to make GISCorps the successful program it has become. From responding to disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Japan to mapping health clinics in Mexico and teaching GIS to kids in Albania, they are truly making a difference with GIS,” noted Greg Babinski, URISA President.

GISCorps started life in October 2003 in Atlanta, Georgia, when the URISA Board unanimously approved it as an initiative of URISA. GISCorps is now a URISA program and operates entirely on a volunteer basis. The core committee members, most of whom are themselves GISCorps volunteers, run the program with administrative help from the staff at URISA. They reside in different states across the United States and Canada and use a wiki site to work collaboratively, mostly at nights and on weekends. For more information about the mission and operations of GISCorps, visit www.giscorps.org.