Suzette Kimball

Transcription

JIM COBB: I’m Jim Cobb, Director of the Kentucky Geological Survey and State Geologist of Kentucky. I could not be more please about the celebration we are having today, and I want to thank you all for being here to help us celebrate. It has long been recognized that knowledge of the earth leads directly to economic development, improvements in public health and safety, lower costs for society, and wise use of our resources. We have completed all twenty-five maps covering Kentucky in the 30 by 60-minute series. A 30 by 60-minute map is 35 miles by 56 miles—about 1900 miles in area. These geologic maps contain vital information for society. They are like blueprints of the earth. I believe we are the first state to accomplish this goal, which is why we’re having this celebration today. The banner, hanging on our wall that we unveil for the public today, is a composite of all the 25 individual maps. It’s pretty cool. This banner is a symbol of what has been created. It is data-intensive to the extreme, and just getting it plotted onto vinyl that we could put on the wall was a huge effort. There are a few amazing facts that only a computer can calculate about what’s on this map. It’s amazing. There are 3 billion—billion with a “B”—feet of lines represented on the map. These lines were acquired by geologists walking across all parts of Kentucky to collect this data in the field. Three billion feet is equal to…calculation…579,000 miles, or 24 trips around the earth. That’s a lot of mapping, and that’s a lot of walking. A great amount of science about Kentucky has been learned from geologic mapping, and many students and faculty have benefited from being part of this effort. It’s colorful. The colored areas on the map represent 334 mapped stratigraphic units. That’s a lot of stratigraphy. I have to say that the map they had available in the early 1900’s had about ten. So we’ve come a long way. The stratigraphic units range in age from middle Ordovician to Holocene, spanning…calculate…460 million years of earth history. There are 427,000 lines on that map, tracing around each stratigraphic unit. There are 21,200 fault segments mapped on that, and there’s—if you want to know why we’re a big coal-producing state—well, there’s 99,000 miles of coal outcrops on that map. If I refer to this accomplishment in the singular as “this map” it’s because all 25 individual maps—once in the computer—become a single map, even though we have published all of them separately. In the computer environment and on the Internet, it is one seamless geologic map. This map has utility for economic development, mineral and energy production, and environmental protection for Kentucky. It is used by geologists, engineers, citizens, land owners, developers and planners to locate resources, protect ground water and the environment, avoid natural hazards, and design infrastructure such as roads, bridges, industrial parks and buildings. Of equal importance to the field of geology-actually it’s not equal, because if we didn’t have the field geology, then we couldn’t do the computer work, but…I said that. I’ll take it back. Of almost equal importance to the field geology that was done is the computer and programming work that converted the lines on the map to digital data that can now be served over the Internet. The real value of this accomplishment is not in the banner—although it’s beautiful—or in the printed maps, which are useful. It’s in the digital data derived from the maps that we serve over the Internet 24/7. The computers we use to serve this data consume 7 terabytes of storage. And they tell me that’s a lot. We record an average 500 daily users, and so far—and this is amazing to me—326,000 downloads of map information have been made. If we count each download as an individual publication, as we would have in the past with the traditional paper stuff—you know? If we counted them, this is a best-seller. No doubt about it. We have developed an app. This is so cool. If you have your Smartphone. We have developed an app that anyone, anywhere in Kentucky with a Smartphone can readily see the geology at their location, identifying geologic formations, sinkholes, faults, landslides, mineral deposits and other features. I always pictured this. If I was a developer and not too sure where I’m building my…if I had an instrument I could carry with me to just check : “Are there sinkholes? Are there things I need to worry about?” You can now do that. Land-use planning maps that were created from this are used in county planning offices. They’re in 1300 classrooms in 500 schools in Kentucky. This map has benefits for every county in Kentucky. There has been a team of dedicated field geologists, cartographers, digitizers, programmers, and IT personnel; men and women whose efforts have culminated in the accomplishment we celebrate today. And we owe a great deal to all who took part. We have a lot of them visiting with us today, so be sure and thank them. Today’s celebration is a “thank you” to all of them for what’s been accomplished. This is a testament to what can be achieved through federal-state-university-research partnerships. It’s important. There are many people important to the celebration who deserve recognition. I cannot possibly name all of them, but the late Wallace Hagan, the 10th State Geologist of Kentucky, started the modern geologic mapping program in 1960 and partnered with then-Director Thomas Nolan of the U.S. Geological Survey to achieve the original mapping that is the foundation for our current work. Doc Hagan had a great vision for what geologic mapping could do, because after it was over, Kentucky rose to the top in coal production. Right after. Doc had a great vision for this, and it was shared by the U.S. Geological Survey. Also, Don Haney—I think Don’s here—Don Haney, the 11th State Geologist of Kentucky—and my predecessor—over here. He continued the partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey and began the digitizing and computerization of the original maps. So we thank him for that effort, and it turned out to be a good bet. I also want to acknowledge the great efforts of the nearly 200 field mappers, 188 of them—I think 188—were from the U.S. Geological Survey, who conducted the original mapping program. We have a number of original field mappers with us today. We have cartographers, paleontologists and scientists with us. Thank you for the contributions you guys made. And gals. I want to acknowledge the 60 digital mappers, and programmers at KGS who digitized the data and converted the maps for computer use, especially Warren Anderson and Tom Sparks who oversaw these efforts. Thank You. We also want to acknowledge the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The State supported the mapping. State government is, today, I think, one of the largest users of these maps on the Internet. The accomplishment we celebrate today would not have been possible without the support and participation of the U.S.G.S. We thank them for their support. Also, the Association of American State Geologists—a big supporter of this program in Congress to keep it going. KGS is an institute of the University of Kentucky and being part of this university and this campus—with all of its capabilities and facilities—has really allowed us to do the job we have done. We are proud to be a part of UK, and the support we have received from UK is important to our achieving these goals. Now it is my pleasure to introduce the President of the University of Kentucky. President Eli Capilouto. ELI CAPILOUTO: Jim, thank you for your kind words and your acknowledgement of everybody here that made this possible. I think the true test of a great university is when you honor those who honor you, and through your kind words to your team, I think you’ve lived up to that today. As you gave your remarks and as I got here earlier and you explained the magnitude of this, I realized the enormity of time, personnel, and sacrifice it took to develop this impressive tool. It’s a powerful piece of armamentarium to use, and the team should be most proud. I’m continually impressed by the many ways the University of Kentucky serves the people of our state. Our faculty, staff and students find creative and innovative ways to fulfill our role as a state flagship university. Each endeavor—like the one we witnessed today—reminds us of our responsibilities as a modern land-grant research university. This mission, which I’ve started to call the “Promise to Kentucky”, is something we strive to honor each day through the work of everybody that is on our campus--the work that goes on in our laboratories, classrooms, and the work we do out in community. So this new map is a manifestation of our promise to the people of Kentucky. I’ve been informed that over 400 people worked on this project. That is tremendous. And for it to be crystallized in such a powerful tool and map that is available even on an app—so as a new College President, I think it is important that I know the geological characteristics of wherever I may be at any time. I want to know if you can help me with the political (laughs) characteristics of my location at any time. I would like to have that app before I leave today. I’ve got my Smartphone. I’m proud of the leadership across all the fields that came together today to make this possible, and I’m most proud that it was a collaboration. Because anything that we do today of major significance usually requires a team. And so we’ve had three partners in this project that spanned many years, and I want add my thanks to Jim’s and recognize the individuals at the United States Geological Survey. And I met Director Kimball who you’ll hear from in a moment—let’s pause and thank them for their support. Our partners with the Kentucky Geological Survey and across state government. Secretary Peters who’ll speak in a moment. And I get to preside at these every two or three weeks—another reminder of these tremendous partnerships: public, private, and others that come together to make something special happen across their state. And I want to thank the talented staff and research faculty at our university, because your work every day inspires and energizes me. I thank all of you who have assembled here today to recognize this wonderful achievement. It is a special day for the university and for the Commonwealth. Thank you for your work. It will pay dividends for generations to come. Thank You. JIM COBB: Thank you, President Capilouto. The National Geologic Mapping Act was signed into law in 1992. It created the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program at the U.S. Geological Survey, and the State Map component that we work with and has supported us so well. The U.S. Geological Survey was also our partner in the original mapping that laid the foundation for this accomplishment. So now I am very pleased to introduce the Deputy Director Suzette Kimball, of the U.S. Geological Survey. SUZETTE KIMBALL: Well thank you all. I’m so pleased to be here today. This is actually the second time I’ve been able to be in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to celebrate a mapping effort. The first was several years ago when your GIS colleagues were the first, made sure that Kentucky was the first state to complete the twenty-three base layers for the National Map. So you are continuing your great tradition in the Commonwealth of leadership in mapping across the country. For more than 130 years, the USGS has been working in partnership with state geological surveys to provide the science information that’s really vitally important to the U.S. economy, to the safety and health of the American public, and the sustainability and security of natural resources. Obviously we cannot—at USGS—complete our mission without this kind of a partnership. And so, we’re here to honor here today, the fruits of this incredible partnership with the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and the Kentucky Geological Survey. USGS and the Kentucky Geological Survey have cooperated over the years in many areas of geological investigations, including topographic and geologic mapping, lidar, geochemistry, geochronology, paleontology; coal, minerals, oil and gas surveys, ground water, environmental studies, seismic studies and data preservation. Which encompasses just about everything USGS does. The USGS-Kentucky Mapping Partnership from 1960 to 1980 produced the first detailed quadrangle maps that laid the foundation for this great achievement today. But we shouldn’t forget that Kentucky was also the first state in the Union that completed the topographic mapping series for the state—now a little bit more than 50 years ago. So again, the leadership in mapping that’s exhibited here in the Commonwealth is really, truly an incredible testament to everybody standing in this room. As Jim mentioned, the Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program at the USGS has partnered with Kentucky for nearly twenty years, assisting in the compilation and computerization of geologic maps in Kentucky. There are three components to the Cooperative Geologic Mapping Act: The Fed Map—federal mapping component, State Map—the state mapping component, and Ed Map—which is a component that brings resources to universities across the country to train and engage our next generation of scientists who are interested in geological resources of this country. I’m pleased that all three components of this activity are embodied in that great product up there. The completion of the 30 to 60-minute geologic map series puts Kentucky in the forefront of geologic mapping. The USGS is proud to be part of this accomplishment—congratulates the geologic survey and the University of Kentucky, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky on a partnership that has produced such a wonderful product that will be of use not only to the citizens in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, but also to those nationwide who are interested in our geological resources. Thank you so much for including me in the celebration today, and I look forward to meeting many, many more of you who were actually part of that group that walked those three billion feet in this state. Thank You. JIM COBB: Suzette, thank you. Thank you very much. Our final speaker is someone whose agency utilizes these maps on a daily basis. I’m very happy our next speaker can be with us today. He is a former UK faculty member, a former University VP for Research, former Senior Vice President of Battelle, and Director of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. It’s my pleasure to introduce Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Len Peters. LEN PETERS: Thanks very much, Jim. I appreciate what you—your colleagues—have done. Where’s Don Haney back there? Don, what you and Wally Hagan started—very, very impressive. And it’s good to see a lot of friends that I’ve met many of you over the years--had time to work with all of you. And President Capilouto, Jim Tracy—I think it really does demonstrate what a land-grand and state university are all about. All the way from the Arts, the Humanities, to the basic sciences, to the applied sciences, so—appreciate everything you do. Because now, being on the receiving end of what you do, it is so very, very important. I think we’d all agree that geologic maps are not necessarily a household item. I can tell you in our house, we have—one of my sons is a geologist as many of you know—and in his home, and in our home, we do have some geologic maps on the wall. But in most homes you don’t see those sorts of things. But nevertheless, they are essential for the development of Kentucky’s mineral resources and for the protection of our environment. There use is fundamental for the work we do in the Energy and Environment Cabinet, whether it’s for the protection of water and the wise use of our mineral resources, but it’s also important to all government and industry for a variety of uses. I certainly applaud the University of Kentucky and the Kentucky Geological Survey for this outstanding contribution to our Commonwealth. It will provide invaluable information for decades into the future. I do not believe that any other state has the mapping coverage and data that are available for Kentucky as demonstrated in this new map. For a state that has mining, mineral, and oil and gas interests, and values its environment and water—these maps are an essential tool for our economy and our environmental protection. I applaud the University of Kentucky and the Kentucky Geological Survey for what it did. Let me just reemphasize what Jim talked about, what President Capilouto talked about, and it really is the collaboration—the partnerships—that are absolutely necessary in today’s environment—today’s society—to get things done. This is where we need the federal government, we need the state government, but most of all—and equally importantly—we need the minds and the brains of the people--and the next generation of our professionals in a variety of areas, including geology. So thanks, UK, for everything you do, and Jim, congratulations. And Don, congratulations to what you all got started a number of years ago. Thanks very much.