James Boxall, the Director the GISciences Centre within the Dalhousie University Libraries, was elected a Governor of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society at the November 13th meeting of the RCGS College of Fellows. That occasion saw the Fellows Dinner and Medal Awards ceremony attended by His Excellency, Dr. David Johnston, Governor General of Canada and Patron of the RCGS, and the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, and Laureen Harper. His Excellency spoke passionately about the need for education to be at the cornerstone of our understanding of the tremendous geography of Canada, and Mrs. Harper spoke about the role geography plays in our lives as Canadians. The Prime Minister and Mrs. Harper were inducted into the College of Fellows at the Gala as well.  Of note as well was the attendance of Dr. Roger Tomlinson, the creator of GIS 50 years ago, who received a standing ovation for his contribution to the science of GIS and the ability of Canada to lead the world in geography through GIS.

“Every term I tell my geography class that Dalhousie is a unique model of how geography can be done properly, as an integrative science that brings together the human and physical systems to seek solutions to the most complex problems of our interactions with our planet and each other. It also does this most impressively through the use of geographic technologies like GIS and remotes sensing. And now with the explosion of applications over the web and mobile devices, the nature of how we visualize the issues we face and solutions we can use comes to life and makes the richness and power of cartography come alive.”

“What makes Dalhousie such a leader in Canada is that we developed a model that has a philosophical and historic basis that can be traced back to the roots of the discipline of geography. Nearly 2200 years ago, the first person to use the term geography, and who first measured the actual spherical size of the planet, our distance to the moon and sun, and gave us the concepts of latitude and longitude did so as the Librarian of the Great Library of Alexandria. Eratosthenes became known as the founder of geography, and he did so within the context of being the Librarian. The principle of understanding our Earth and promoting learning through geography has its basis in the same core values of the library. This is why Dalhousie received several awards for the GISciences Centre in the University Libraries – we have kept that history and those principles alive, and we promote them every day through the interaction of geography, GIS, data and the library as the hub and access point for the information to ‘do geography’."

“Being a Governor of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society is an honour, and now I am tasked with moving the agenda forward with regard to enhancing geographic education at all levels and in the public domain. The first step was taken this past August with the development of the Declaration for Advancing Geographic Education for Canadians, which has now been endorsed by several associations and sponsors, including the RCGS and the Canadian Association of Geographers. I am also co-chair of the Canadian Geomatics Community Round Table, which is developing a comprehensive strategy to enhance the geomatics sector in Canada and increase both our economic position in that industry as well as increase our contributions to Canadian society, the environment and the protection of our country and peoples. That Round Table is also seeking ways to enhance education and research, and the benefits of these efforts will certainly have a positive impact on Dalhousie and our students.”