Contributing VGI to Libya

Over the last few weeks I finally started walking the talk. For years I’ve encouraged students to seek out opportunities to apply their mapping skills in helping others. Mapping soils is good and important; mapping needs is better.  I  was inspired by Anahi Ayala Iacucci back in January to learn more about Crisis Mappers, and I did.  I learned, I joined, and I’m helping.  Just a little, around the edges of my day job, with some evening and weekend hours.  For the last few weeks I’ve been working on the geo-locating and analyses teams of the Libya deployment. I’ve written a few of the daily situation reports that the UN OCHA and other targeted audiences follow. Here’s a description that Crisis Mappers’ co-founder Patrick Meier wrote about the work of this volunteer group.  I’m designing future training opportunities so that Redlands students can learn and choose to volunteer as well.  I’m hooked!