Meet Our Speakers . . .


Allyson Jason graduated from North Carolina State University in 1998 with a BS in Marine & Coastal Resources. Jobs with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center introduced her to GIS and in 2002 she graduated from NCSU with a MS in Natural Resources -Spatial Information Systems. After working with NCSU & the NC Division of Coastal Resources to map erosion rate changes on the North Carolina coast she joined Veterinary Services, Animal and Health Inspection Service, USDA as Regional GIS Coordinator in 2003. Allyson got interested in GIS using GPS to map sea grass beds on the coast of NC with the National Marine Fisheries Service. "A friend of mine and I try to dare people to think of something that does not have a spatial context, and no one has been able to think of something yet! Since everything is inherently spatial, it is very important to include the locational aspect of information when we are trying to examine what that information means in the world around us."