On December 5, 2023, Deirdre Dalpiaz Bishop, the Chief of the Geography Division at the US Census Bureau, visited the University of Minnesota to learn how the University and partners are using geospatial information and systems to solve problems and inform decision makers. She spent the day exploring ways to enhance the use of US Census data in research and ways to strengthen reporting on and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set forth by the US government.
Bishop began the day at a round table discussion with various geospatial and data centers, including U-Spatial, Institute on the Environment, the John R. Borchert Map Library, and the Data Science Initiative, to showcase the University’s wide-ranging programs and their contributions to geospatial research and data analysis. She also gave a town hall on "Advancing Geospatial Information Management for Sustainable Development” and attended a Sustainable Futures Ideation Session.
Bishop emphasized the importance of geospatial data in supporting SDGs and learned about Sustainable Futures, an important new initiative at the University that is using geospatial mapping tools to help partners in Minnesota and the world solve social and environmental challenges as laid out by the SDGs.
According to UMN’s Katey Pelican, who helped organize Bishop’s visit, this developing UMN partnership with the US Census lays the ground for future collaboration.