Medals

The ISARA may award two medals, one at each bi-annual meeting, alternating meetings between the two medals. The selection process for the medal in question will begin immediately following a Spatial Accuracy symposium, with the nomination period closing one year from that date. Nominations must be submitted to the Chair of the selection committee Panel of Judges. The ISARA Steering Committee, upon the recommendation of its Panel of Judges, may choose not to award a medal at any given meeting. The decision of the ISARA Steering Committee is final.

A member of the ISARA Steering Committee will serve as the Chair of the Panel of Judges. The Steering Committee will propose to the Conference Council (i.e., all registered participants of a symposium who attend that symposium’s business meeting), for its approval, a slate of two additional Panel members who have agreed to serve, with preference given to potential members who have attended previous symposia. Committee membership preference should be given to distinguished scholars who have attended past Spatial Accuracy symposia. Panel members will be appointed for a 4-year term, can serve more than one term, but cannot serve consecutive terms. One of the first two initial appointments will be for 2 years, in order to help ensure overlap of committee membership over time. Because meetings are bi-annual, the Steering Committee is empowered to replace any Panel member who resigns between symposia, without the Steering Committee obtaining approval of the Conference Council. The Panel of Judges will render a decision within 3 months of the nomination deadline, in order to allow a recipient sufficient time to prepare to attend the next Spatial Accuracy symposium.

Each member of the Panel of Judges will evaluate all submissions by all nominees. First the Panel must screen nominees for eligibility. Then evaluation of each nominee declared eligible by the Panel will be on a scale from 0 to 10. The winner of a medal shall be the nominee who receives the most points. The Panel of Judges may decide that no candidate received a sufficient number of points, and hence recommend that the ISARA not award a medal at its next meeting.

An awardee will be invited as a keynote speaker for the Spatial Accuracy symposium at which s/he will receive a medal. The local organizer will have the opportunity to either include this awardee as one of the standard keynote speakers, or to add him/her as an additional keynote speaker; this decision will be at the discretion of the local organizer. The awardee will have her/his travel, accommodations and registration expenses covered to the same extent as all other keynote speakers. This particular keynote speech will be labeled either “The Peter Burrough Lecture,” or “The James L. Smith Lecture,” whichever is appropriate. A medal will be awarded at the beginning of the lecture, after the introduction of the awardee, but prior to the introduction of his/her lecture title.

Every effort will be made by members of the Steering Committee and the members of the Panel of Judges to widely advertise each nomination period. The Peter Burrough medal will be the first awarded, with this initial award being made at Accuracy 2012. Because of the tight timeline for this first award, nominations for this first competition must be received by November 30, 2011, a Panel of Judges must be appointed by the Steering Committee by November 30, 2011, and the decision of this Panel must be rendered by March 1, 2012.

·         The Peter Burrough Medal for senior scientists

Objective: to recognize sustained outstanding contributions by a senior scientist to the thematic area of the International Symposia on Spatial Accuracy Assessment in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, namely how to measure, model and manage uncertainty or error in spatial natural resources or environmental data.

Eligibility

Any living person may be nominated. A nomination must take the form of a written letter (of no more than 750 words) from a scholar who is thoroughly acquainted with the nominee’s work, stating in a well-structured, well-argued and convincing manner why the nominee deserves the medal. The letter must be signed by three scholars, one of whom must have attended at least one of the Spatial Accuracy symposia (preferably one of the preceding three; this individual must identify which symposium s/he attended).

At the time of his/her nomination, a nominee must agree to receive the medal in person at the time and place designated by the ISARA Steering Committee, and must furnish a current curriculum vitae to the Panel of Judges. If this scholar is a member of either the Panel of Judges or the ISARA Steering Committee, then s/he must excuse him/herself from that position for the year in which s/he is nominated in order to accept the nomination. The Steering Committee will appoint a replacement member for the symposium in question.

The award of the Peter Burrough Medal shall not be presented to any one individual more than once. Unsuccessful nominations do not carry over from one nomination announcement to the next (i.e., a new nomination dossier is required).

·         The James L. Smith Medal for early career scientists

Objective: to recognize an outstanding contribution, with considerable potential for future such contributions, by an early career scientist (i.e., a scholar not beyond 7 years, by the close of the nomination period, of the awarding of her/his graduate degree—except in exceptional circumstances, a doctorate is preferable) to the thematic area of the International Symposia on Spatial Accuracy Assessment in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, namely how to measure, model and manage uncertainty or error in spatial natural resources or environmental data.

Eligibility

Any living person may be nominated who has held a graduate degree (except in exceptional circumstances, a doctorate is preferable) for no more than 7 years by the close of the nomination period. A nomination must take the form of a written letter (of no more than 750 words) from a scholar who is thoroughly acquainted with the nominee’s work, stating in a well-argued and convincing manner why the nominee deserves the medal. The letter must be signed by three scholars, one of whom must have attended at least one of the Spatial Accuracy symposia (preferably one of the preceding three; this individual must identify which symposium s/he attended).

At the time of his/her nomination, a nominee must agree to receive the medal in person at the time and place designated by the ISARA Steering Committee, and must furnish a current curriculum vitae to the Panel of Judges. If this scholar is a member of either the Panel of Judges or the ISARA Steering Committee, then s/he must excuse him/herself from that position for the year in which s/he is nominated in order to accept the nomination. The Steering Committee will appoint a replacement member for the symposium in question.

The award of the James L. Smith Medal shall not be presented to any one individual more than once; being awarded it does not preclude a recipient from being awarded the Peter Burrough Medal. Unsuccessful nominations do not carry over from one nomination announcement to the next (i.e., a new nomination dossier is required).