Virginia – Wise

Virginia – Wise
Node Host: Wise County Clerk of Circuit Court's Office
Lead Collaborator: University of Virginia's College at Wise
Acronym: VA

About the Node Hosts: The Wise County Clerk of Court's Node (often referred to as "Wise County", "WC" or simply "Wise") is hosted by the Wise County Clerk of Circuit Court's Office. The Wise County Clerk of Court, Jack Kennedy, was one of the early champions of DEVELOP. In 2001, he seized the opportunity to bring the NASA Applied Sciences Program to Wise County, VA by sponsoring the first DEVELOP node to branch out from Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA.

"The Clerk of Court office was first established in 1856 in Wise County and it has functioned continuously the past 150 years. Today, the employees include the Clerk of Court and ten deputies. An additional five part-time employees work on the indexing and scanning of legacy court files to better preserve and provide rapid on-premises digital access. There is also a college student internship program that has functioned the past decade."

The DEVELOP office is housed in the historic Wise County Courthouse. Located at 206 East Main Street in downtown Wise, Virginia, it is home to Wise County's judicial system and also serves as the chief administrative building for the county. Built in 1896 in replacement of a much smaller court building, the current courthouse was designed in the Renaissance style of architecture. The DEVELOP office has an open florplan, supporting a highly collaborative environment for participants and node leadership. The only barrier to communication is a pair or headphones.

History of the DEVELOP Node: The Wise County node opened in 2001. Early in the node's history, before DEVELOP became more focused on national and international issues, the node focused much of its resources on GIS education. Once participants became familiar with the basics of GIS, they spent a large portion of their time creating and updating the Wise County GIS. Through their efforts, Wise County became the first county in Virginia with a GIS Department that linked property deeds to parcel maps.

As both geospatial technologies and DEVELOP evolved, the node shifted focus to the ten-week projects that DEVELOP is centered on today. The Wise County DEVELOP node supports numerous community engagement efforts through interactions with students and recent graduates at UVA-Wise and local community colleges. The opportunity to experience the beauty of Southwest Virginia is also extended to out-of-area participants."

About the Node: The Wise County node typically hosts nine participants in the spring and fall and ten or more during the summer term. On average, the node completes seven projects per year. DEVELOP projects at Wise County are diverse, spanning the full spectrum of NASA Applied Science's application areas.

The local Science advisor is Bob VanGundy. Bob is a geologist and professor of various Earth Science disciplines at The University of Virginia's College at Wise. He has been involved with the Wise County node for several years and continues to contribute project ideas and insightful advice.

The node receives additional advising from Joseph Spruce, located at Mobile County Health Department, and chief climatologist and program manager of Global Science & Technology, Inc. at NOAA NCEI, Dr. DeWayne Cecil. Both Joseph Spruce and Dr. Cecil conduct science advising with the node via weekly teleconferences.