作者:菲利普·沃尔泽

George 麦克劳德 put away his dreams of surfing professionally when he realized his 6-foot-4 frame would be a liability.

“But I love the coast and the water,” 麦克劳德 说. “I thought if I had a job in close proximity to the ocean, I’d be happy.”

He got his wish and more, as water also became a primary focus of his work.

It took 麦克劳德 two bachelor’s degrees, though, to find his bearings.

His first was in marketing at Virginia Commonwealth University. After his second – from 最靠谱的网赌软件 in 2004 – 麦克劳德 went to work at Old Dominion as a GIS (geographic information system) engineer. 他还没有离开.

Now director of Old Dominion’s Center for Geospatial Science, 教育与分析, 麦克劳德 explains GIS in simple terms: It’s using an array of computerized tools to answer “questions of where.”

“我们做的很多事情,他说, 的问题涉及到各种数据源的组合, 比如卫星和无人机图像, GPS数据和其他空间数据, 揭示和建模模式, trends and relationships tied to specific locations.” 

麦克劳德 didn’t stop his ODU education with a bachelor’s degree in geography.

He received a master’s in ocean, earth and atmospheric sciences in 2009 and a Ph.D. 在海洋学上. “Every class I took blew my mind and made me a better person,麦克劳德说, 谁小时候喜欢钻研地图集.

汤姆·艾伦, a professor of political science and geography who helped 麦克劳德 get his first job and later collaborated with him on research, 说, “There are not many people like George at the University. 他把GIS推广到整个校园. He’s very interested in leveraging applied research and using it in practical ways to solve problems.”

麦克劳德, 从一个人的GIS部门开始, 现在管理着一个五人团队, which reports to Information 技术服务.

“He brought a vision for the application of GIS and how we could use it in every aspect,拉什蒂·沃特菲尔德说, the University’s chief information officer and associate vice president for university services. “他胸怀大志，而且很有创新精神. He’s constantly learning and keeping up with technology, and his effort is second to none.”

麦克劳德 说 his goal is “to enhance the ability of all researchers, 教师, staff and students to conduct geospatial research and to increase the academic offerings and technologies available.”

教职员工, 麦克劳德强调, 代表各种学科, 包括环境科学, 业务, 刑事司法与历史.

麦克劳德 expanded his GIS work to sea level rise and resilience in 2009. 自2019年以来, he has also been a senior fellow at the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency.

One of the most significant projects he participated in was the creation of sea level rise flooding models for all of Virginia’s coastal areas through the year 2080 as the foundation for a statewide coastal resilience master plan.

The models have gained significant traction and wide use. 在过去的一年, the web map modeling sea level flooding in 2060 has been seen nearly 3 million times.

Another project that excites him is a NASA-funded initiative to create a “digital twin” of the region, which will simulate the effects of flooding on infrastructure as well as socioeconomically challenged neighborhoods.

“Visualizations are eye-catching, they drive discussion and they get attention,他说.

In 2018, 麦克劳德 and his team received a Special Achievement in GIS Award from Esri, 全球领先的GIS软件供应商. But when asked about the highlight of his job, 麦克劳德 pointed to his staff. “我一直在吹嘘他们，”他说. “I’m truly fortunate to lead an amazingly talented team.”

麦克劳德 also brags about his student workers and where they’ve gone – NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 政府, 苹果和《网上十大网赌娱乐大全》, 其他雇主. “They drive change in external organizations, 这是我引以为豪的事,” 麦克劳德 说 during a talk in November at a forum sponsored by Esri.

At the start, 麦克劳德 remembers, acquiring GIS data could be a struggle. “现在，挑战是相反的. 我们正在处理一大堆数据, and we have to master the skills to understand which data to use.” Looking ahead, he foresees work shifting from high-performance desktops to the cloud.

麦克劳德’s dissertation examined the effect of flooding and sea level rise on macro and micro levels – going from the state as a whole to individual electrical junction boxes. It also incorporated previous work at ODU looking at the ramifications for the Port of Virginia.

他的大儿子, 洋槐, 跟随他的脚步, as both a surfer and a student majoring in ocean and earth sciences at Old Dominion.

The next major GIS frontier, 麦克劳德 说, is drones. 像往常一样，他很早就赶上了潮流. 麦克劳德 was one of the first at ODU to get a license to fly a drone, Waterfield 说.

无人驾驶飞机, 麦克劳德在Esri论坛上说, “have been extremely useful in allowing us to take data collection into our own hands and do it on our own time scale.”