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Dear Association Members and Supporters,
It is with sincere gratitude that I write this message today as your President of the NYS GIS Association. My involvement with our organization began as a member, transitioned to a Communications Committee volunteer, increased in responsibility as an appointed and subsequently elected Board of Directors member, and now has culminated in the highest honor of my professional career serving as Association President. I am so proud to be part of and give back to this incredible community of map-minded people and will do my best to follow in the footsteps of so many inspiring individuals before me.
Over the next year, I am excited to lead us in continued support for ideas and work we currently have including:
- Strengthening partnerships with our Regional and Local GIS User Groups and supporting the action and interest by members to revive various user groups.
- Strengthening partnerships with sister organizations like the NYS Association of Professional Land Surveyors. What started as outreach to the Surveying Society has grown to a focus on Public Access to Digital Documents through the power of GIS. We had a successful roundtable with NYS APLS at NYGeoCon 2025 and look forward to the continued collaboration and support on this digital land records initiative.
- Continuing to expand our membership and recruiting new volunteers. As you may already know, our Association is entirely volunteer run, and it is not possible to continue the great things we are doing today without each and every volunteer. This year, we had a number of new volunteers join us and I look forward to continuing to grow not only our Association membership base, but our volunteer base and Committee membership as well.
I am also excited to support the ideas and work of our two newest Committees: The Early Professionals Committee and the GeoAI Committee. Creating the Early Professionals Committee was a goal of my presidency that we have already achieved! Now that it is created, the new Committee will work to connect students and early career GIS professionals across New York State with opportunities for learning, networking, and leadership development, as well as foster a supportive community for professional growth and collaboration within the geospatial field.
The GeoAI Committee will, among other things, work to identify innovative GeoAI tools, agents, and capabilities and bring them to the attention of Association members, guide GeoAI research and development efforts to address NYS private and public needs, inform NYS and its local governments about educational practices that will enhance the public’s ability to use GeoAI for their own benefit, and work with other governments and organizations to develop GeoAI based solutions of benefit to NYS.
These two new Committees started as ideas shared at NYGeoCon 2025 in scenic Lake Placid this past October. It was an incredible and informative event that included wonderful opportunities to connect with colleagues over roasted marshmallows and Olympic ice skating. The NYGeoCon Committee did a fantastic job, and the group is already planning NYGeoCon 2027. The GeoSpatial Summit Committee’s planning is in full-swing, too, and we look forward to welcoming all of you to the 2026 GeoSpatial Summit on October 6th and 7th at The Lodge in Skaneateles, New York.
In addition to the Committees mentioned above, we also have folks hard at work on the Awards, Communications, Educators, Legislative, Membership, Professional Development, and Regional Coordination Committees. Again, each of your Officers (Secretary, Treasurer, and Information Technology Officer), each of your Board of Directors, each of your Committee Chairs and Committee Members are all volunteers committed to serving our New York State GIS community.
If you are looking to get more involved in your GIS community, meet colleagues from all over New York State, and give back in a meaningful and productive way, I welcome your participation as a member or volunteer. If you have any thoughts or suggestions on the year ahead, I welcome your feedback.
Let’s work together to make 2026 the mappiest year yet.
Catherine DuBreck, GISP
President, NYS GIS Association