This site is also OSU's online portfolio for active membership in the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS). The UCGIS is a non-profit organization of over 70+ universities, scholarly societies, agencies, and companies dedicated to advancing our understanding of geographic processes and spatial relationships through improved theory, methods, technology, and data. OSU is one of the six founding members of the UCGIS, which is one of the major academic organizations guiding GIScience research and curriculum development in the U.S.

Areas of expertise at OSU include: remotely-acquired data and information, space/time analysis and modeling, geovisualization, distributed and pervasive computing, geographic information resource management, global representation and modeling; forestry, oceanic and earth sciences, sustainability and water resources, environmental sciences, ecosystem informatics, satellite remote sensing, acoustic remote sensing, seafloor mapping, marine GIS, cartography, and forest surveying. Emerging areas of expertise at OSU include the geospatial semantic web, geographic data mining, public health GIS, and sustainable rural communities.

Each UCGIS member institution has two official delegates, who serve on the UCGIS Council, vote at national UCGIS meetings, and may hold UCGIS offices. Each institution may also name up to several Alternates, who will be informed of UCGIS business issues and who may represent the institution if one or both of the official delegates are unable to attend a meeting.

UCGIS Delegates for OSU:

• Michael Olsen, College of Engineering - Lead Delegate
• Robert Kennedy, College of Earth, Ocean, & Atmospheric Sciences - Secondary Delegate
• Lorene Becker, College of Earth, Ocean, & Atmospheric Sciences - Alternate Delegate

Oregon State University is also a member of the Federal Aviation Administration's Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems.