Summer Position for GIS Data Collection and Map Development

Employer and Location:

U.S. Section, International Joint Commission

1250 23rd St., Washington D.C.

The International Joint Commission is an independent binational organization established by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. Its purpose is to help prevent and resolve disputes relating to the use and quality of boundary waters and to advise Canada and the United States on related questions.  It is governed by three U.S. commissioners and three Canadian commissioners appointed respectively by the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Canada.  The Commission has offices in Washington D.C., and Ottawa and Windsor Ontario. 

Duration:

Eight to ten weeks, starting late May – early June 2004

  

Hourly rate:

To be determined, based on qualifications

Qualifications:

Knowledge of and ability to work with a variety of GIS formats and software.

This should be based on undergraduate/graduate work in GIS or significant GIS work experience 

Ability to work effectively and independently with mid-level technicians from a wide range of U.S., Canadian federal, state/provincial and NGO’s.

Familiarity with water management issues is a strong plus.

Work Description

The incumbent will work on two projects:

1) Inventory of U.S.-Canadian Transboundary Watershed GIS Data Sets

Based on internet searches and calls to various IJC Board members and other contact leads supplied by the IJC and its board members, identify and catalogue existing maps and GIS data sources for twelve designated watersheds along the U.S. – Canadian border.  This will be the first step in a longer-term project to develop a uniform and “seamless” set of U.S. – Canadian transboundary watershed maps.

2)  St. Croix Mapping Project 

On behalf of the Washington Office of the International Joint Commission, act as the primary technical support for the St. Croix mapping project.

The St. Croix River mapping project is an IJC initiative to build a decision support tool to assist the integrated planning and development of the St. Croix River watershed.  This is a 115 mile river which runs along the international boundary between Canada and the U.S. in Maine and New Brunswick.  The mapping project will access to information at appropriate scales and in compatible formats to support decisions related to successful development.  This is critical to integrated watershed management and water quality protection initiatives. 

An integrated base map will be developed showing the basic geographic and hydrographic attributes of the St. Croix Watershed.  The decision support tool will be a series of overlay maps showing ecological and social conditions, and identifying the relationships among them.  The overlays set will identify community and ecological indicators at a fine resolution of data in areas of the watershed that present special opportunities or challenges.  Because the St. Croix is a transboundary watershed, there is currently limited access to integrated datasets showing the entire watershed.  The key will be integrating the U.S. and Canadian data sets. 

The St. Croix River has always played an important role in the development the St. Croix Watershed region because the economy is based largely on natural resources and tourism. The river is known for its fisheries and recreational resources as well as being a source of hydroelectric power and municipal and industrial water supply.

Contact:

Russ Trowbridge

Senior Advisor

International Joint Commission

(202)  736-9103

email:  trowbridger@washington.ijc.org