Big Ten GIS Conference 2026 Wrap-Up Report

Executive Summary

The sixth annual Big Ten GIS Conference, held virtually on April 17, 2026, drew 340 attendees from 224 organizations — a notable 30 percent increase in attendance over 2025. Engagement held across the full day virtual program. The key takeaway is that the conference is growing where it matters: in the people who show up, stay, and contribute their own research as student presenters, reflecting the libraries’ commitment to student success.

Wins at a Glance

• 30% increase in attendance over 2025
• All 17 GIN member universities represented among registrants
• Keynote by Frank Donnelly (Brown University) on the effort to preserve the HIFLD Open federal GIS data portal
• 67% of conference presentations were by students
• Demos of the BTAA Geoportal and new Data Citation Generator
• Session recordings posted at gin.btaa.org/conference; nearly 200 views without promotion

2026 Improvements

• Early faculty outreach at the start of the academic year raised the quality and competitiveness of student submissions
• Expanded proposal review: six reviewers, three per proposal, with more specific criteria than 2025
• Planning committee grew from 7 to 11 members, plus 5 dedicated day-of roles

Looking Ahead

The 2027 planning committee will convene in December 2026. The primary operational focus: give the planning cycle more runway by opening the call for proposals in January, and convert more registrants into attendees through targeted pre-event reminders.

2026 Conference Planning Group

Committee Members

• Colleen Wilson (Chair), BTAA-GIN Associate Director, University of Minnesota
• Karen Majewicz, BTAA-GIN Associate Director, University of Minnesota
• Laura Kane McElfresh, Cartographic Metadata Librarian, University of Minnesota
• Nicole Scholtz, Librarian for Geospatial and Numeric Data, University of Michigan
• Sue Oldenburg, GIS Specialist, Rutgers University-New Brunswick
• Matthew Parsons, Geospatial Data and Maps Librarian, University of Washington
• Theresa Quill, Map and Spatial Data Librarian, Indiana University
• Anna Rohl, Map Curator, University of Michigan
• Joshua Sadvari, Geospatial Information Librarian, Ohio State University
• Rob Shepard, GIS Librarian & Instructor, University of Chicago
• Wenji Wang, GIS Librarian, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Volunteers

• Mech Frazier, GIS & Cartographic Specialist, Northwestern University
• Tara Anthony, GIS Specialist, Pennsylvania State University
• Allison Anderson, GIS Infrastructure and Support Specialist, University of Washington
• Innocensia Owuor, GIS Specialist and Clinical Assistant Professor, Purdue University
• Kathleen Weessies, Head, Map Library, Michigan State University