MSU hosts Pathways to Resilience Summit Oct. 8 focused on empowering Mississippi through partnerships, innovation, technology
Contact: James Carskadon
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State University, in collaboration with the Mississippi Conservation Task Force, is hosting the inaugural Pathways to Resilience Summit Oct. 8 in Starkville.
Taking place in the Colvard Student Union, the free summit will explore how multi-sectoral partnerships and innovations in geospatial technologies can make Mississippi more economically, environmentally and technologically resilient to changing environmental conditions. The theme for the summit is “Mississippi’s Gateway to Innovation through Geospatial Strategies.” For additional information and to register, visit https://msstate.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a34KxYOWRMbEnqe.
Narcisa Pricope, MSU associate vice president for research and lead organizer of the event, said geospatial technologies such as satellite remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems—and the advanced analytics powering them—not only help the state develop innovative practices, but allow for applications that promote resilience.
“MSU has a long history of using innovation in geospatial technologies to better understand patterns and processes that impact our state and our world,” Pricope said. “These technologies help us do things like protect our food, water and energy supply and better prepare for natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods and droughts by monitoring conditions and identifying previously unseen risks. It’s great to bring together stakeholders from across the nation and the state as we look to a future of using these tools to make Mississippi a more resilient state.”
Guest speakers include VADM (Ret.) Robert Sharp, former director, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; Renee Collini, director, Community Resilience Center at the Water Institute; Wade Hinton, Mississippi Assistant Secretary of State; David Alexander, senior science advisor, Department of Homeland Security; Sean Alexander, branch chief, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Huntsville; and Austin Davis, technical director, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Geospatial Research Laboratory.
With a goal of positioning Mississippi as a leader in innovation and sustainability, the meeting will work toward the creation of a multi-institutional Sentinel Landscape for the state, where conservation, working lands and national defense interests converge.
The summit is hosted by MSU’s Office of Research and Economic Development, Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine, and the Mississippi Conservation Task Force. Additional financial support is being provided by Reinventing Geospatial, Inc. and Frontier Precision Unmanned.
For information on the summit, contact Pricope at npricope@research.msstate.edu.
Mississippi State University is taking care of what matters. Learn more at www.msstate.edu.