2006 May 11

This issue sponsored by

ESRI

Editor's Introduction
Interview with Jim Plasker
Interview with Kari Craun
Interview with Mike Renslow
New ASPRS Officers

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Editor's Introduction

This week I cover last week's ASPRS annual conference by interviewing three key players: Jim Plasker, the organization's executive director; Kari Craun, its new president; and Mike Renslow, the chair of its exam development committee. All three were enthusiastic about the conference and told me of very interesting developments.

— Matteo

Interview with Jim Plasker

Last week, I attended the ASPRS Annual Meeting in Reno, Nevada. This week, I discussed it with Jim Plasker, the organization's executive director. We covered the following topics:

Interview with Kari Craun

I also discussed the ASPRS conference and future activities of the organization with its new president, Kari J. Craun, who is the chief of the U.S. Geological Survey's Mid-Continent Mapping Center in Rolla, Missouri.

Craun was very positive about the Reno conference: "I think it was very successful — we had good attendance and really excellent technical sessions. A very large number of abstracts were submitted for this conference and resulted in a very good technical program. We also had a very nice and well-attended social event at the National Automobile Museum, in downtown in Reno."

Interview with Mike Renslow

Licensure and, in particular, the development of a new photogrammetric examination, was a big topic at the ASPRS conference. I discussed it with Mike Renslow, who is heading the effort. He has been a photogrammetrist for about 40 years.

"There's a need for a process to be in place for people without prior practice," he told me. The profession is regulated by the states, through their legislative process, and each one does it differently. Most states, Renslow explains, have a survey law and now they are adding photogrammetry to it. The latest change was in Oregon, where a new law went into effect on January 1. The last part of Oregon's law deals with inclusions and exclusions: for example, a police officer sketching the scene of an accident or a geologist sketching some mineral deposits are not covered, but a city public works department employee mapping the locations of manholes is covered.