SLU鈥檚 Vasit Sagan named to National Geospatial Advisory Committee
04/23/2020
The U.S. Department of the Interior has named Saint Louis University鈥檚 Vasit Sagan, Ph.D., to a three-year appointment on the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC).
鈥淰asit鈥檚 appointment is well-deserved and reflects the significance of his contributions to the geospatial field,鈥� said Ken Olliff, SLU鈥檚 vice president for research and partnerships.
NGAC members provide advice and recommendations on national geospatial policy and management issues, the development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) and the implementation of the Geospatial Data Act of 2018. The committee promotes geospatial data sharing across government, private and non-profit sectors and the academic community.
Sagan鈥檚 research and teaching in the geospatial arena have positioned him as a leader and established his expertise as well-suited to advise this expanding field.
Sagan serves as the faculty director of the Saint Louis University Geospatial Institute, which was established to support and accelerate research, training and innovation in the rapidly growing fields of geospatial science and technology. He also is an associate professor of geospatial science in the department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and he leads SLU鈥檚 remote sensing lab.
The NGAC includes up to 30 members. In addition to Sagan, the following individuals also were named to a three-year term on the committee:
- Douglas Adams, Baltimore County, Maryland
- Chad Baker, California Department of Transportation
- Gar Clarke, State of New Mexico
- Garet Couch, National Tribal Geographic Information Support Center
- Jack Dangermond, ESRI
- William Haneberg, Kentucky Geological Survey
- Roberta Lenczowski, Roberta E. Lenczowski Consulting
- Mark Meade, Quantum Spatial
- Siva Ravada, Oracle Corporation
- Felicia Retiz, Texas Water Development Board
- Cy Smith, State of Oregon
- Tim Trainor, Trainor Consultants
The NGAC was authorized under the Geospatial Data Act of 2018. The NGAC operates under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, enacted by Congress in 1972 to ensure that advice rendered to the executive branch by advisory committees, task forces, boards, and commissions formed by Congress and the President, be objective and accessible to the public. The Act formalizes a process for establishing, operating, overseeing, and terminating these advisory bodies.