More News April 09, 2018

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) — In the past year, nearly 1,300 aspiring entrepreneurs and creative types have occupied a new makerspace at the University of California, Riverside.

The space is UCR’s Creat’R Lab, set to celebrate its first Anniversary Showcase on Thursday, May 3 in the Orbach Science Library.

Users of the Creat’R Lab have spanned majors from science and engineering to medicine, from entrepreneurship to arts and humanities. In the lab, they have created projects including foam-sculpted costume armor, stop-motion animation videos, business plans, and short video pitches for investors.

In 12 months, the Creat’R Lab has hosted 187 workshops on a wide variety of topics led by student organizations. The lab has also provided space for RED entrepreneurs-in-residence to mentor UCR students in the NSF I-Corps Startups for Innovators program.

On May 3, several student groups will display projects made in the Creat’R Lab, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) student branch at UCR, Cross Campus Entrepreneurs, Studio Riverside, Cosplay Brigade, and the Origami Club.

Creat’R Lab staff will give demonstrations in virtual reality with the Oculus Rift headset and will show visitors how to build objects using electronic building blocks. Others staff will lead crafts in which guests can make a button and a Scotty the Bear necklace.

“Having the Creat’R Lab in the UCR Library creates opportunities that wouldn’t exist if it were embedded elsewhere,” said University Librarian Steve Mandeville-Gamble. “It’s a campuswide resource that students can use even when they’re not enrolled in classes.”

The UCR Library and the Office of Research and Economic Development (RED) launched Creat’R Lab in April 2017. It was conceived as a hands-on learning space where students can collaborate across academic disciplines.

At the Creat’R Lab Anniversary Showcase, Deputy University Librarian Ann Frenkel and Director of Entrepreneurship for RED Michalis Faloutsos will provide welcome remarks. UCR students Alondra Gomez-Andrade, Christopher Fleming, and Gustavo Correa will participate in a panel discussion about how student organizations use the Creat’R Lab.

Research staff and faculty members Christodoulos Kyriakopoulos and Mzilikazi Kone will share examples from their own research, including 3D-printed earthquake fault models and a collaborative zines project for two ethnic studies classes.

UCR Library’s Director of Research Services Brianna Marshall will also introduce inaugural members of the Creat’R Lab’s Steering Committee.

The Anniversary Showcase will take place on Thursday, May 3 from 4-6 p.m. at Orbach Science Library. Light refreshments will be served.

Those interested in attending are encouraged to RSVP: https://creatrlab-anniversary.eventbrite.com

More News September 27, 2023

More News August 29, 2024

Mark Buchholz has served as the Digitization Services Specialist at the UCR Library since February 2022. 

As the UCR Library's Digitization Services Specialist, Mark focuses on expanding the library’s digital collections by digitizing and preserving research materials and building the library’s digitization capacity for the future.

Mark’s journey into the world of libraries began unexpectedly during his freshman year of high school. A community service requirement led him to volunteer at his local library, where he was tasked with applying barcodes and spine labels to books. At the time, Mark found the work tedious. “I didn’t have any interest in working in libraries then,” Mark recalls. It wasn’t until much later that he would recognize the importance of that early experience.

Mark’s library career began in 2005 at the University of Miami Library, where he worked on a grant-based project to digitize the slide libraries of the Art History and Architecture Departments. “It was a good opportunity to learn,” Mark reflects, noting how digitizing thousands of images sparked an interest in art history. After the grant ended, Mark continued working for UM Libraries for another eight years, digitizing library materials from Special Collections, University Archives, and the Cuban Heritage Collection.

His work at the University of Miami eventually led him to the Claremont Colleges and, later, to the UCR Library. “I wanted to grow personally and professionally,” Mark explains on his move to UCR.

At the UCR Library, Mark has been involved in several significant projects, including the digitization of the Nuestra Cosa newspaper archive, which he found particularly rewarding. “The process of digitizing a multilingual newspaper introduces interesting challenges,” he explains, highlighting the complexities of optical character recognition and metadata description in multiple languages.

Mark is also excited about his upcoming move from the Orbach Library to a new digitization lab located in the Tomás Rivera Library. The new, purpose-built space will improve the safety and efficiency of the digitization process, allowing materials to stay in the same building and reducing risks associated with transportation. “It’s safer and better for the materials,” Mark states.

Mark has become an integral part of the UCR Library’s efforts to preserve and share our unique collections. His commitment to digitization ensures that valuable materials are not only safeguarded but also made accessible to future generations. You can view the UCR Library’s digital collections, which includes material that Mark and his team have digitized, on Calisphere.

More News October 21, 2016

At noon on Thursday, October 13, UC Riverside launched the kick-off for Living the Promise: The  Campaign for UC Riverside at UCR’s iconic bell tower.

This comprehensive campaign is the first of its kind for the University of California, Riverside, with a target completion date in the year 2020.

A week of celebratory events followed the launch including large and small festivities and research symposia on campus and around the region.

Campaign co-chair Dr. Thomas Haider declared, “We are very proud to announce that the goal for Living the Promise: The Campaign for UC Riverside is $300 million. It’s a very ambitious goal, but we are more than halfway there.” To date, UC Riverside has secured $155 million in gifts, more than 51% of the goal.

UCR Library has its own goal as part of the comprehensive campaign. Fundraising efforts by the Library’s development team to date have generated more than 71% of our target in contributions.

University Librarian Steven Mandeville-Gamble stated, “We’ve had such a strong start that I would love to see the library blow right past our goal.”

He added, “The library’s campaign priorities include facility enhancements, endowed support for collections, funding for paid undergraduate and graduate student internships, endowed librarianships, and a Science Fiction research center in collaboration with CHASS.”

What would reaching these goals mean in terms of impact the library could have on UCR’s students and faculty?

Right now, the library’s impact is somewhat restricted by the assets, talent, or funding that we currently have. Having more resources would allow the library to:

• enhance existing library spaces to serve the next generation of Highlanders
• design and build new library spaces to increase community engagement
• create more employment and internship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students
• foster innovation and entrepreneurship
• enhance our information resources in quantity, quality, and diversity
• support leadership positions that will help guide us toward the library’s and the university’s strategic vision

Reaching our campaign goals will truly enable us to become a library of the future.

“It’s time for us to make the mark in the world that we and our students and our faculty and our staff all deserve,” commented Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox during the campaign kick-off.

The campaign has designated six key themes, “Solutions that change lives,” including: social innovation and empowerment, new voices and visions, health and wellness, from genomics to harvest, emerging technologies, and renewable nature.

As one of the few university departments connected to every field of study on campus, the UCR Library is uniquely poised to support all six of the comprehensive campaign’s themes.

More News June 01, 2021

In years past, the UCR Library would host a Student Employee and Staff Appreciation Picnic in May to honor the people whose work serves and supports the UC Riverside community.

Due to the continuing campuswide COVID-19 closure, we were not able to hold the celebration again this year.

Still, we would like to recognize and celebrate these library student employees who will graduate with UC Riverside’s Class of 2021: Haneen Abbas, Sabrina Aguilera, Hugo Arcos, Samantha Berrospe, Daphne Burnett, Nicholas Carter, Martin Cruz, Daniel Garcia, Ted Kim, Tim Koo, Terry Mach, Michaela Miller, Brenda Nguyen, Carol Rodriguez, Daysia Rodriguez, Sandra Samayoa, Jonathan Sanchez, Mina Shiratsuchi, Manasi Soni, Kathy Tran, Phyllis Ung, Lisette Ureno, Jasmine Vaquera, Sebastian Vizcarra, Xeng Yang, and Jennifer Zhou.

We asked our 2021 graduates to share their favorite memories from their time spent working at the UCR Library, and what they would miss most about working here. Here are some of their responses:

Jasmine Vaquera

My favorite memory from working at the library was my first week on the job and still being invited to the annual student appreciation picnic. My favorite part of working at the library was being exposed to so many books that I wouldn’t have otherwise encountered. I also loved my bosses and coworkers at ILL and Reserve. What I will miss most about working at the library are those that helped build my best memories there, my bosses and coworkers.

Daysia Rodriguez

My favorite memory working from the library is the finals week activities we would do for the students. I will miss the amazing staff and students who I worked with for the past 3 years. All of you have truly made my experience at this university memorable and fun. Thank you to everyone who has shown me support and especially thank you to Leslie and Sahra for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this wonderful team.

Tim Koo

My favorite memory from working at the library is when I first learned how to use the myriad of technologies and tools at the Creat'R Lab. I will definitely miss my coworkers for making my experience of working at the library incredibly fun!

Lisette Ureno

My favorite memory from working at the UCR library Would definitely have to be Finals Week Stress Relief programs! I loved seeing the joy these programs brought to students as they were able to take a break from their studies and interact with other students and staff rather than just their books. I worked at the UCR library since freshman year so I will definitely miss the amazing staff that grew to be great mentors and friends to me. The student life inside the library is also something I feel nostalgia from as I observed throughout the years how social, helpful and welcoming students were to one another despite being in a library setting. I love that!

Haneen Abbas

My favorite memory working at the library would be finals week each quarter when we would put on Disney movies and students would poke their heads in or take a seat for a quick study break. What I'll miss most is interacting with all the unique students and faculty with equally as unique and exciting projects that I was able to watch come to life.

Michaela Miller

My favorite memory of working at the library was coming into a shift at Special Collections after class and just being able to work in the quiet of the library. It was always so calming being there. I’m going to miss working up in Special Collections. Everyone was always super nice there and it was a great experience working there.

Kathy Tran

During week 10 and finals week, the library was giving away snacks for people who were studying at the library at that time. I was able to walk around the library and encourage people with their studying and also spend time with Scotty! It was such a blast. Honestly, I think I'll miss walking up and down aisles and aisles of books. Although I've only used the library a couple of times throughout my undergraduate career, something about the tons of books available just fascinated me. I'll also miss talking to the librarians (shoutout to the Teaching & Learning Services) about our days or something so small. These librarians have made my day 10x better from talking to them and I'll definitely miss them.

Hugo Arcos

One of my favorite memories was celebrating the graduation of past students in the library's patio. Alongside good food and games, it was great to reflect on the many bonds I developed with fellow coworkers. What I will miss the most are the encouraging staff across all sectors of the library. The library was the first job I had at campus, and I was naturally scared of the environment I potentially had to deal with, but I am glad the library turned out to be a place filled with motivational and understanding people. I can't thank everyone enough for providing me with a positive work experience, and many of the skills I learned from various people will hopefully manifest themselves into my future aspirations.

Carol Rodriguez

My favorite memory from working at the UCR Orbach Science Library would be meeting new friends and meeting new people that would come in and come out from the library every day. Also, one thing that I will miss dearly would be the annual Thanksgiving Feast where they would give us so much good food and we would just have fun. Also, congrats, grads -- we did it!

Samantha Berrospe

My favorite memory from the library is seeing all the students take a break from studying, and enjoy relaxing by attending our Finals Week Stress Relief activities. What I will miss most about working at the library is hanging out with my coworkers and gaining some new friends.

More News July 02, 2010

Institute of Museum and Library Services funding will provide scholarships for Inland Empire librarians to pursue master’s degrees.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The University of California, Riverside Library has been awarded a $974,259 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to recruit 25 non-degreed employees from Inland Empire libraries who want to pursue a Master of Library and Information Science degree.

The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program grant is designed to increase the number of under-represented minorities in the pool of librarians and improve library services in the region, said UCR Librarian Ruth Jackson. UCR will match the grant with $241,587 in library staff time to administer the three-year project.

The UCR grant is one of 38 totaling more than $22.6 million awarded to libraries, library schools, and professional organizations out of a national pool of 110 applicants.

“We’re very excited about this opportunity,” Jackson said. “Diversity of library staff makes a tremendous difference in availability of language skills and understanding the culture and information needs of the population served. It makes a difference to academic and public libraries in the kinds of materials you have in their libraries and the design of programmatic services. It is absolutely critical to have a diverse staff in both academic and public libraries nationally, and in the Inland Empire, which has one of the most diverse and fastest-growing populations in terms of diversity in the nation.”

UCR Library will be the lead institution partnering with eight public and academic libraries in the region to recruit, support and mentor current and future librarians. Those libraries are: San Bernardino County Library system, San Bernardino County Law Library, San Bernardino Public Library, Rancho Cucamonga Public Library, Riverside County Law Library, San Bernardino Valley Community College, Riverside Community College (Moreno Valley) and the University of Redlands Armacost Library. Also collaborating in the grant will be the Graduate Schools of Library and Information Studies at UCLA and San Jose State University.

Funding for the program, titled Inland Empire LEADS (Librarians Educated to Advance Diversity and Service), will provide scholarships up to $24,900, as well as internships, mentoring, and opportunities for program participants to attend professional conferences while working toward their MLIS degrees.

Tuition costs and the time needed to complete a degree – typically two years – make it difficult for working librarians to pursue the advanced degree, said Jackson and Patricia Smith-Hunt, head of Preservation Services for UCR Library and project director for Inland Empire LEADS. The Inland Empire LEADS project will enable working librarians to attend school full or part time, they said. Volunteers from the Librarians Association of the University of California, Riverside (LAUC-R) will serve as mentors.

Smith-Hunt said the grant-writing team – which she led, assisted by library analyst Julie Mason and Jackson – surveyed 25 academic, public and specialty libraries in the Inland Empire to determine interest in and need for the project.

“Administrators at all of the institutions that responded were excited about this possibility,” she said. “They estimated there will be 20 librarians retiring in the next five years. We can help educate the next generation of librarians, and the libraries where they work will benefit from new skills they will be acquiring and implementing before they graduate.”

The project will begin recruiting staff members who are already pursuing a master’s degree or who have been admitted to a program. Upper level undergraduates at UCR who have expressed an interest in pursuing a career as a librarian will be encouraged to apply as well.

Obtaining a Master of Library and Information Science degree is important both to understand the philosophical background of libraries and to respond to rapidly changing technology, services and resources, Jackson said.

“Libraries are complex organizations,” she said. “Librarians need to understand technology, design of services, strategic planning, advocacy, fund-raising, preservation, budgeting and influencing federal information policy, such as copyright law and open access to research paid for with federal dollars. At the same time, we have the challenge of redesigning libraries for easy, effective, and economical access to information in the digital age. Services in such areas as children and young adults, access to health information, economic and job data, and cultural programming will continue to be increasingly important in the public library arena as we make the transition. It’s important to continue to develop skills in critical thinking and reading among children and young adults in the digital age. That’s what libraries do.”

Library services in the Inland Empire have suffered because of language and cultural disparities between library staffs and the communities they serve, Smith-Hunt said.

“Library administrators whom we surveyed said their professional library staffs are racially and culturally disproportionate to the diverse communities they serve,” she said. “They anticipate labor shortages of professionally trained librarians over the next five years, and they need staff with language, cultural and personal experiences that more closely reflect the communities they serve.”

Competition on the national level to recruit and retain librarians from under-represented minority groups is strong, Jackson and Smith-Hunt said. The Inland Empire project will help increase the number of qualified librarians nationally and locally, they said.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas.

For application information contact Patricia Smith-Hunt, project director, at patricia.smith-hunt@ucr.edu or (951) 827-7702.

More News February 23, 2018

On Feb. 5, a team of library employees received a UCR Healthy Campus Initiative grant for a project proposal, #puppylove: a feasibility study for an on-site, year-round animal therapy program for the UCR campus community.

Their project will conduct a year-long feasibility study to determine whether creating an on-site, year-round therapy dog service at UC Riverside would improve the emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual well-being of the entire UCR campus community.

#puppylove would differ from current Library programming in which therapy dogs visit campus once per quarter as part of the Finals Week Stress Relief events provided for students. However, its enduring popularity makes a great foundation for this research, according to project lead Patricia Smith-Hunt, Head of Preservation Services.

“Institutions like UC Berkeley and Harvard and USC have implemented programs like this,” Smith-Hunt said, who drew inspiration for #pupppylove from the therapeutic benefits she gained by acquiring a dog last year. “We as staff and faculty also have stressful days, so having access to that kind of unconditional love and interaction on a regular basis rather than just once per quarter – and having it open to everyone on campus – that would be the goal of the study.”

She shared this idea with library colleagues Financial and Acquisition Analyst Jacqueline Bates and Serials Assistant Andi Newman, who shared her excitement for the concept and helped to complete the grant application.

The team received notice in December 2017 that the Healthy Campus Initiative grant review committee had decided to green-light their study. Shortly thereafter, Circulation / Reserves Services Manager Sahra Missaghieh Klawitter and Access Services Desk Coordinator Elisha Hankins also joined the project.

After the grant recipients were announced on Feb. 7 in Inside UCR, colleagues from other UCR departments reached out to the team to ask how they could get involved.

Newman observed students interacting with the therapy dogs during Finals Week Stress Relief. “I was really surprised. Even with all these students surrounding them, the dogs remained calm, they were playing with the students, doing tricks, and allowing a number of people to pet them. The dogs loved it!” she said. “I myself was able to spend about 10 minutes holding, petting and just getting unconditional doggie love. After that, I went back to my desk and I truly felt better, all from being with a dog.”

“If I’ve had a really stressful day and I walk in my door and see my three dogs – whether they’re jumping on me or not – I feel better,” Bates commented. “I think everybody should have that opportunity because a lot of people can’t own dogs.”

The feasibility study will conclude in December 2018, and the team hopes that their research data will inspire the Healthy Campus Initiative review committee to implement the #puppylove program on a permanent basis.

More News February 07, 2018

Entrepreneur-in-residence and UC Riverside instructor Jay Gilberg has enjoyed using the Creat’R Lab to mentor aspiring innovators who are part of the NSF I-Corps Startups for Innovators Program at UCR.

“I love helping people to achieve their dreams by creating a business,” Gilberg explained. “It’s important to nurture entrepreneurship in a university setting. The average person at a university is brighter and their ideas are more original and creative and perhaps more world-changing than the people who are just trying to create their own job.”

Through mentoring, he also wants to set the record straight on what the path to entrepreneurship really looks like. “There’s so much misconception and misrepresentation on TV about what goes into starting a business. You don’t start out doing something like Shark Tank,” Gilberg chuckled. “Startups are a lot of work. I’ve done a few of them, and it’s not for the lazy.”

In 2009, Gilberg sold his staffing industry company ABCOW Services, Inc., which he had built from the ground up and grown into an Inc. 500 company, a designation granted to the 500 fastest-growing, privately owned companies in the US over a five-year period. Currently, he owns a real estate business, in addition to his work with UC Riverside.

Gilberg sees the Creat’R Lab as the on-campus starting point for students who are interested in dipping a toe into UCR’s entrepreneurial culture, a place where people from all fields of study can mix and mingle to forge new relationships that support innovation, exploration, and collaboration.

Recently, Gilberg, Interim Director of EPIC (Entrepreneurial Proof of Concept and Innovation Center) Mark Leibowitz, and entrepreneur-in-residence Alexandra Orozco have decided to offer weekly “ask an expert” drop-in office hours in the Creat’R Lab’s Mentoring Room for students who think they have an idea worth exploring. In the near future, Gilberg hopes to see the Creat’R Lab enhance its technology to facilitate live group webinars with off-campus guest experts and distance mentoring.

If students enjoy their experience at the Creat’R Lab, then Gilberg says their next step in the entrepreneurial journey at UCR could be the Startups for Innovators workshop, which he teaches with Leibowitz to bridge the gap from theory to practice in business development.

UCR's NSF I-Corps program was established in 2017 thanks to a $500,000 five-year grant awarded to Associate Vice Chancellor for Technology Partnerships Rosibel Ochoa and Interim Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development Gillian Wilson by the National Science Foundation. Before coming to UCR, Gilberg, Leibowitz and Ochoa had previously worked together at UC San Diego’s I-Corps site.

After completing the I-Corps workshop or other academic coursework, Gilberg explained, students can apply to work with either EPIC, which provides one-on-one mentoring with the entrepreneurs in residence, or ExCITE, a 6-12 month accelerator program that nurtures new technology startups and creates more high-tech jobs in the county of Riverside.

The Creat’R Lab opened in Orbach Science Library in April 2017.

More News October 27, 2017

Moises Martinez Cortez is a fourth-year Global Studies major who has worked as a Front Desk Assistant at UCR Library since fall quarter of his freshman year.

He grew up in the Lynwood – Downey area of Los Angles as the youngest of six children, raised by a single mother who immigrated from Nayarit, along the central west coast of rural Mexico. Cortez says, “I love her to bits.”

Though he’s the youngest in his family, Cortez is the first person in his family to attend a four-year university. “My older brother and sister went to community college for a while, but ended up dropping out,” he explained.

At first, Cortez considered attending UCLA so he could live at home, but a few things about UC Riverside helped to change his mind. “I come from a low-income background and UCR I felt had the right resources, both financial and the right kind of community, to carry on my education here,” he said.

While he felt out of place for the first quarter, he adjusted quickly, partly due to working at Tomás Rivera Library. “I’ve met a lot of people at the front desk,” he said. “I feel more connected to campus as well. I’ve made a lot of new friends with fellow student employees and also expanded my academic network.”

After getting better acquainted with many people here at UCR, Cortez added, “It’s the community that makes us stand out. There’s an environment of, ‘We want to collectively get ahead, make sure our students graduate, we want to grow.’”

He’s also grateful for the mentors he’s met here at the library. “All the staff in Circulation are super helpful, and Leslie [Settle, Access Services Desk Coordinator] is hands-down the best supervisor I’ve ever had,” he said. “She tries to help us out however she can. She always sends us emails about events on campus, and where we can get free food.”

“Moises is a selfless employee who always looks out for the interest of others,” Settle commented. “He’s willing to help where needed and never hesitates to do what is best for the team. Moises is innovative, in that he developed a communication chain for student workers.”

Cortez’s understanding and appreciation of the intersection between cultures is part of what led him to pursue a degree in Global Studies.

“It’s a major that’s becoming more and more relevant with the interconnected, global world that we live in,” he said. “A lot of political issues that are relevant here are also relevant in other parts of the world, as well. Climate change, global security, so many other things.”

Cortez studied abroad last fall as part of a human rights and cultural memory program in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Santiago, Chile. This experience gave him an outside-in perspective of the 2016 Presidential election. “It gave me an inside view of how people around the world view American politics,” he said. “The fact that they knew so much about the US really surprised me, and made me wonder why people in the US don’t know much about people in this part of the world.”

He currently divides his time between work, study, painting (primarily working with acrylics and graffiti art), and tutoring Italian, French, and Spanish for the Academic Resource Center.

“I’m kind of a nerd, to be honest. I really like learning languages,” he said. “I get a kick out of learning how to communicate with somebody else in a different way, in their language. I’m a native Spanish speaker, and I picked up French in high school. I studied Arabic and Italian here on campus. I’m currently trying to learn Portuguese because I’ll be studying abroad in Brazil in January.”

After he graduates, Cortez hopes to work for the US State Department as a Foreign Service Officer. “I’m interested in working abroad in US embassies with foreign governments, working on issues like security, immigration, development, and seeing what I can do as a representative of the US to help foster that growth and that development,” he explained.

More News November 14, 2019

The fourth annual GIS Day at UC Riverside was held on the afternoon of Thursday, Nov. 14 in the Orbach Science Library.

Geospatial Information Librarian Janet Reyes reflected on a successful community event at UC Riverside to celebrate Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Day and Geography Awareness Week.

“It was great to see students from several disciplines participate in our poster contest this year,” Reyes said. “The contestants’ enthusiasm about using GIS to conduct their research was evident from their posters and was reflected in their lively discussions with GIS Day attendees.”

The first place winner in the poster contest was Brandon Fong, [center] for his poster on hillslope boulder displacement in the Box Springs Mountains. Second place went to Brooke Rose [right] whose poster depicted longleaf pine distribution under future climate projections. Third place was awarded to Hannah Hapich [left] for her poster on Twitter conversations on plastic pollution.

GIS Day also featured geography-themed activities in the Creat’R Lab and presentations highlighting both academic and practical applications of GIS, with topics including agriculture, census planning, artificial intelligence, public safety, and more.

“We are fortunate to have many GIS users on campus and in the community,” Reyes added. “In one way or another, they all apply GIS technology to increase our understanding of particular places or the planet as a whole.”

GIS Day 2019 was co-sponsored by the UCR Library, UCR Facilities Services, the Department of Anthropology, the Department of Entomology, the Department of History, the Department of Environmental Sciences, and the Center for Conservation Biology. Poster contest judges were Eli Knaap, Kat Koziar, and Elia Scudiero.

Additional contributions supporting GIS Day came from Associate Vice Chancellor Andy Plumley; UCR Library staff members Melanie Ramiro, Margarita Yonezawa, Ray Gonzalez, and Robert Wong; R'Geospatial Club; Esri; and the event speakers.

The GIS Day Planning Committee included Ademide Adelusi-Adeluyi, Hoori Ajami, Robert Johnson, and Karen Jordan, with Reyes as committee chair.