Elizabeth McCartney

Bio: Elizabeth began her career with the USGS as an onsite contractor. Her first assignment was in the Earth Science Information Center (ESIC) where she was responsible for answering inquires received from the general public. Later, Elizabeth worked in the USGS Commercial Partnerships office providing assistance to customers using USGS contracts to order geospatial products and services. In September, 2008, Elizabeth was hired as a Federal employee as a technical point of contact for the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) where she provided technical support and training to seven states in the creation and management of the NHD products. In March, 2013, Elizabeth became the Team Lead for the USGS Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) project known as The National Map Corps which encourages citizen volunteers to collect manmade structure data in an effort to provide accurate and authoritative spatial map data for the USGS National Geospatial Program’s web-based map products. Her job combines GIS technology and mapping with customer interaction and support, which Elizabeth enjoys tremendously. Ms. McCartney graduated from Jacksonville State University (AL) with a dual undergraduate degree in Biology and Geography in 1996, and a Master's degree in Biology in 1998.

Using Volunteers to Update Structures on U.S. Geological Survey’s National Map and U.S. Topo Maps The National Map Corps (TNMCorps) is a US Geological Survey (USGS) citizen science effort which supports the National Geospatial Program (NGP) by providing structures data for The National Map and US Topo Maps. Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) is not new to the USGS, but past efforts have been limited by available technologies. Today, using an online mapping application, TNMCorps volunteer map editors are successfully updating 10 different structure types including hospitals, cemeteries, post offices, schools, law enforcement, and fire stations. The project has grown from 1,000 registered volunteers in October of 2013 to over 3,500 volunteers in January of 2016. TNMCorps incorporates a variety of approaches with the intention of motivating and engaging volunteers while simultaneously promoting high quality, focused data collection. This discussion explores the strategies and methodologies used which include tiered editing, map challenges, virtual badges, social media, newsletters, and news releases.

TNMCorps, USGS