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World Headquarters Rue Mauverney 28 |
Press Release |
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World Headquarters Rue Mauverney 28 |
Press Release |
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IUCN ANNOUNCES NEW APPOINTMENT IN INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AT ITS HEADQUATERS IN SWITZERLAND
The Director General of IUCN, Dr. Maritta R. von Bieberstein Koch-Weser, announced the appointment of Jean Thie as Head of the Information Management Group (IMG) in Gland.
Dr. Koch-Weser stated that " information and knowledge management is key to make IUCN a leading contributor to sustainable development in the next millenium. Jean has been at the forefront of the integration of information technology, ecosystem science, policy development and decision making"
A Canadian national of Dutch origin, Jean Thie has worked over 25 years in ecological land classification, geographic information systems, management of science programs, policy and program development. After initial studies in forestry and rural engineering in the Netherlands, he completed an M.Sc. in Soil Science / Biophysical Land Classification at the University of Manitoba, Canada. Remote sensing and land resource surveys and monitoring were the themes of his studies at the International Centre for Aerial Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC, the Netherlands) and the Laboratory of Application of Remote Sensing (LARS, Purdue, US)
Whilst being responsible for the forestry sector of the Canada Land Inventory in Manitoba, the newly emerging remote sensing technology drew him to the field of information management. He was instrumental in establishing the Manitoba Remote Sensing Centre and became the first Head of Applications Development of the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing. As Director of the Land Resources and Data Systems Branch of Environment Canada he managed the world leading Canadian Geographic Information System (CGIS). Later as Director of the National Atlas Information Service, his team launched the first world wide web based-GIS in 1994, providing wide public access to national and socio-economic data bases for education (SchoolNet), community planning (Community Atlas), and policy application. As a consultant he worked extensively on the development of knowledge infrastructure and corporate decision support systems for science organizations and the private sector using the internet and intranet.
He is a past President of the Canadian Remote Sensing Society and was the founding President of the Canadian Society for Landscape Ecology and Management. He was Executive Director of the Canada Committee on Ecological Land Classification which initiated many of the ecological, integrative frameworks, approaches and principles which now form part of integrated resource planning and State of the Environment reporting at the local, regional, provincial and national levels in Canada.
Jean Thie succeeds Mr. Kevin Grose as Head of the Information Management Group of the IUCN in Gland
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