ASPRS, The Imaging and Geospatial Information Society, announces the results of its 2014 elections for National Officers. The Tellers Committee reported that Charles Toth, of The Ohio State University (OSU), won the election to become ASPRS Vice President for 2014. With the installation of officers at the ASPRS Annual Conference in March, Stewart Walker moves into the position of President; Lynn Usery becomes President-Elect; and Stephen DeGloria becomes Immediate Past President.
Vice President-Elect Charles K. Toth is a Research Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering at OSU. He received his MSc in Electrical Engineering and a PhD in Electrical Engineering and Geo-Information Sciences from the Technical University of Budapest, Hungary. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed journal and proceedings papers, and he is the co-editor of the widely popular book LiDAR: Topographic Ranging and Scanning Principles and Processing. Toth joined ASPRS in 1988. From 2004-2008 he served as Assistant Director, then Director of the Photogrammetric Applications Division (PAD). Since 2008 he has served as the ASPRS Eastern Great Lakes Region National Director. He is also President for the 2012-2016 Congress Period of Technical Commission I for the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS).
Toth said, “ASPRS is the premier society for geospatial information science and engineering professionals, uniquely blending government, the private sector, and academia. It is absolutely essential for the entire society to maintain its position of leadership as the broad use and application of remote sensing and geospatial data reaches many users who are not traditional members of ASPRS.” Toth continued, “we must be more proactive, demonstrating our knowledge and competence to solve problems for humankind, including disaster response, environment, climate change, peacekeeping, and food supply… I look forward to serving as an officer of ASPRS with honor and responsibility.”
Scott Perkins was elected Assistant Director of the Photogrammetric Applications Division (PAD). Perkins is Vice President of Federal Programs at Aero-Metric, Inc., now part of Quantum Spatial. He was a member of the inaugural class of the Photogrammetric Modeling Program at Ferris State University, and he later earned a Business Management degree as a working professional. He is Director and Treasurer of the ASPRS Central Region. He is also Vice Chair of the Hydrographic Services Review Panel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and serves on the Office of the National Ombudsman Regulatory Fairness Board of the Small Business Administration (SBA). Perkins said, “we have important work ahead as we work to complete new ASPRS Accuracy Standards for Digital Geospatial Data, to replace the existing ASPRS Accuracy Standards for Large-Scale Maps, 1990, and the ASPRS Guidelines, Vertical Accuracy Reporting for Lidar Data, 2004.”
John McCombs was elected Assistant Director of the Remote Sensing Applications Division (RSAD). McCombs is a Senior Image Analyst with the Baldwin Group. For the last 10 years he has led NOAA’s Coastal Change Analysis Program. He earned his MS from Virginia Tech, where he concentrated on using topographic factor maps in a geographic system to improve wildlife management. He has been an active ASPRS member for 14 years, and recently chaired the RSAD Climate Change Committee. He is currently leading the revision of the remote sensing terms for the ASPRS Glossary of the Mapping Sciences. McCombs said, “the last few years have seen new sensors being deployed and used both commercially and in research. Turning this data into usable information through consistent, accurate, peer-reviewed methods should be a large focus of the Society, and this Division in particular.”
Jason Stoker was elected Assistant Director of the LiDAR Division (LD). Stoker is a Physical Scientist with the US Geological Survey (USGS) at the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. He was the former Director of the USGS Center for Lidar Information Coordination and Knowledge (CLICK). He earned his BS in Natural Resource Management and his MS in Geospatial Science, both from Colorado State University. He has been a conference keynote speaker for ASPRS and was guest editor for a special issue of Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (PE&RS), the Journal of the Imaging and Geospatial Information Society. Within the LD he has focused on new specifications, standards, and best practices for 3-D data generally, not just from LiDAR. Stoker said, “use of lidar… has grown incredibly quickly… and is being used in many sectors and applications… ASPRS should embrace those who may have untraditional ideas about 3-D data, while at the same time try to maintain consistency and interoperability between different systems and data structures.”
Frank R. Taylor was elected Assistant Director of the Professional Practice Division (PPD). Taylor is the Marketing Development Manager for Midwest Aerial Photography. He is a licensed Professional Photogrammetric Surveyor in two states and an ASPRS Certified Photogrammetrist. He earned his BS degree in Geology from Tennessee Tech University. He is an expert in the field of aerial triangulation (AT) and has written numerous workflow procedures/standards for AT and photogrammetry. An ASPRS member since 1989, he has served as the Indiana State Director of the Western Great Lakes Region of ASPRS. Taylor said, “my goal… would be to… strive for better collaboration between Geospatial professionals, the Engineering and Surveying professions, and both state and national boards in order to help develop standards and best practices for the Society and the geospatial industry.”
