The Geospatial Information Competition’s 2019 Winners

Announcing the winners of the 2019 Geospatial Information Competition

The 2019 Geospatial Information Competition entries are in and we have our winners! For the competition’s second year, the entrants again made life difficult for the judges, who had the uneviable task of selecting the winning entry from a high quality pool.

In the end, they awarded the prize to two year seven students from Wavell State High School…

James Jeffrey and Chase Lolani: Colac Street Project

Congratulations James and Chase!

The competition encouraged students to utilise geospatial data and methodologies to address a local problem. James and Chase chose to look at an urban creek that was affected by a number of issues, chief amongst them erosion and litter.

Making use of the geodata they acquired, James and Chase developed two potential approaches to addressing the problems affecting the creek, and assessed each one’s viability. On top of that, their presentation was clear, well-designed and highly informative, aided by high quality drone footage and mapping imagery. The judges were quick to note that the standard of the project for Year 7 students was exception.

Wavell State High School teacher Brett Dascombe was excited to be able to include geospatial science in the student’s coursework. “Using industry standard spatial technology in the classroom on real-world problems leads to outstanding engagement, skills development and pride in the students work,” he said.

Of course, our panel recognised that there were other outstanding entries, and have awarded runners-up and highly commended placements.

The runners-up

Stan Tsu and Joshua Chan: Unemployment in Cabramatta (Year 9, Sydney Boys High School)
Stan and Joshua impressed the panel with their project digging into the underlying causes of unemployment in their district. These Year 9 boys addressed Cabramatta’s high level of unemployment with spatial information, embedded maps and logical analysis, producing a submission with a clear narrative and well-developed solutions.

Luke Roff: Bribie Island Erosion (Year 10, Wavell State High School)
Year 10 student Luke cleverly approached the issue of erosion on Bribie Island, starting first with location data from his own survey field trip and from reputable sources, and extrapoloting out to offer an analysis of potential solutions. His use of comparative maps from the present and from decades past effectively communicated the issue of erosion on the island.

Highly commended

Ming Lee and Jarif Asad: Conservation of Mangroves in Sydney (Year 9, Sydney Boys High School)
Ming and Jarif did a wonderful job of highlighting the benefits of mangrove ecological systems in their city, and the impact that the degradation of those mangroves have on the wider community. Their use of aerial photographs, maps and field photography clearly illustrated the issues at hand.

Ella de Silva: Bribie Island Erosion (Year 10, Wavell State High School)
Ella’s submission stood out thanks to its combination of geo data and well-researched science. The impact that erosion has had on many facets of Bribie Island life was measured effectively, and Ella’s proposed strategies were thought through and backed up by her spatial evidence.

What did the successful entrants win?

The 2019 Geospatial Information Competition wasn’t just about playing with cool technology and solving problems. Our winning students are walking away with some terrific prizes:

• First prize winners James and Chase receive tickets to Locate21 in March 2021, Australia’s biggest surveying and spatial science conference, as well as a $200 cash prize
• Each runners-up entry is awarded a $200 cash prize
• All winners, runners-up and highly commended entrants will receive a framed certificate

Wondering how you can get involved in the competition?

Thanks once again to everyone who entered the 2019 Geospatial Information Competition – the standard was extremely high and the judges were very impressed. We hope you enjoyed exploring your world through the lens of geospatial science. If you would like more information about this profession, join our newsletter mailing list to get the information first, and explore our website.

Chase Lolani and James Jeffery, winners of the 2019 Geospatial Information Competition.

A snapshot from James and Chase’ entry, showcasing a planting project underway at the creek in 2013.

Runners-up from Sydney Boys High School with their teacher, Mr Brett Jackson. From left to right: Jarif Asad, Stan Tse, Joshua Chan and Ming Lee.

Runner-up Luke Roff and highly commended student Ella de Silva, with Wavell State High School principal Jeff Major