GIS analyst visits High Point
By Viktoria-Leigh Wagner
SUSSEX — Tamah Conover, a Sussex County geographic information systems analyst, recently spoke to Mark Wallace’s engineering and design class at High Point High School about what she says is “taking the classroom learnings of GIS and applying them to real-world situations.”
GIS is a system designed to capture and analyze geographic data and has a variety of applications from crime mapping to public transportation planning.
Conover has been a GIS analyst for eight years and has a bachelor's in geography with a minor in biology and a master's in information systems. “I’ve always been interested in the field of geography and specifically cartography,” Conover said. “The GIS analyst opportunity presented itself to me in 2005, and wanting to get back to my roots, I applied and was accepted into the position in the [Sussex County] Office of GIS.”
Conover's works to construct GIS systems which she says are made up of “geocoded address points of community places defined by municipal dispatchers.”
“Students use Global Positioning Systems to turn data into 3-D models and color coded maps,” said Wallace. The programs the students use are ones Conover uses in her line of work as well.
The Office of GIS recently contracted with EnterInfo Systems to gather digital images of all county roads in Sussex County and has been working with the Department of Engineering on the Signs and Management System project to “track and manage every sign along a county route within Sussex County,” said Conover. “Currently, there are about 100,000 road signs from all over the county linked to the database.”
GIS on a mission
In 2004, Conover traveled to Malaysia to do genetic research on bats in the Malaysian Rainforest. Working with HSBC at the time, Tamah was offered one of the first grants from Bacardi Rum through the Earthwatch Institute. “Bacardi Rum is a fan of fruit bats,” said Conover, referring to the Bacardi Rum bat logo. “I said, ‘Send me to the farthest corner of the earth,’ and they did.”
Conover was based in Krau Wildlife Reserve and worked with Dr. Tigga Kingston to set up Harp traps, or feeding corridors, using GIS positioning to collect specimens. With 16,000 bats and 38 species captured, Conover said, “Tigga was possibly at the discovery of 3 or 4 new species of bats. It shows how GIS interacts with her research. Bats are important in Malaysia because they disperse seeds, pollinate flowers when they flyand reduce insect populations.”
Conover said using GIS systems enabled the researchers to “show species distribution patterns, population, longevity, community composition and home range for each species of bat.” The data from the study was incorporated into a "bat map." “From this information there emerged a comprehensive ecological map of the bat populations and the environment they live in," said Conover.
GIS in the community
GIS is working on a number of projects that will benefit the community, such as a swipe application that “takes web mapping services from the New Jersey State Office of GIS for 1930 and 2007 aerial photography and...allows you to look up your own property and compare Sussex County in 1930 to Sussex County today,” said Conover.
The Office of GIS also worked with the Sussex County Office of Mosquito Control to set up a West Nile Disease Surveillance application to identify locations of reported WNV cases in the area by creating a map of locations of mosquito traps that tested both positive and negative for WNV in 2011. “This map helped the health department to keep track of and identify trends in the movement of the West Nile Virus,” said Conover.
Another project, the Sussex County 911 system, allows dispatchers to “search for alternate street names, detect past events at a location or identify multiple calls concerning the same incident,” said Conover. "Local governments face great challenges in providing basic services for the public amongst great budgetary challenges. Geographic information provides valuable factors in the areas of planning, engineering, health and public safety issues that are efficient and effective."