Profile
Dr. Ronald Briggs is currently Professor of Geography and Geospatial Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas where he teaches in and directs the Geographic Information Sciences program.
He received his Ph.D. from the Ohio State University in 1972 and was a faculty member at UT-Austin before coming to UT-Dallas in 1976.
His major academic interests concern Geographic Information Systems, especially applied to the management of urban infrastructure and the understanding of metropolitan development patterns.
Current research includes development of a GIS-based model for the location of Waste-to-Energy conversion facilities (with funding from US Environmental Protection Agency), investigation of methodologies for the efficient implementation of GIS for urban infrastructure management (with funding from Collin County), automating the detection of change in digital orthophotographs reflecting new urban development (roads, buildings, etc..), and studies of changes in commuting patterns.
Earlier research was funded by the US Geological Survey as a part of that agency’s National Spatial Data Infrastructure initiative, by the National Science Foundation (including studies of adoption of computerized control in the manufacturing industry and its impact on regional development), by the US Department of Transportation (including a major study of the impact of the Interstate Highway System on development in non-metropolitan areas), and by a number of state and local agencies.
He has published over fifty articles, book chapters and reports.
Past Work Experiences
- Member, North Texas GIS Coordinating Council, 1999-
- Chairman, Bruton Center for Development Studies 1995-1998.
- Chair, Executive Committee, North Texas GIS Consortium, 1997-98
- Member, Board of Directors, Corporation for Research and Educational Networking (“BITNET”) 1992-1995.
- Executive Director of Information Resources, The University of Texas at Dallas, 1991-1995.
- Director, Academic Computer Center, The University of Texas at Dallas, 1982-1990.
- Associate Professor of Geography and Political Economy, The University of Texas at Dallas, 1977‑1982.
- Associate Director, Population Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin, 1974‑1976.
- Assistant Professor of Geography, The University of Texas at Austin, 1970‑1976.
Professional Organizations
- Urban and Regional Information Systems Association
- Geospatial Information & Technology Association
- Association of American Geographers
Courses
- GEOG 3304 Tools for Spatial Analysis
- GISC 6381 GIS Fundamentals
- GISC 6382 Applied GIS
- GISC 6383 GIS Management and Implementation
- GISC 6387 GIS Workshop
- GISC 6389 GIS Masters Project
Media Expertise
- Geographic Information Systems
- Geospatial Sciences
- Urban Development
Recent Publications
Li, Yan and Ronald Briggs. 2006. Automated Georeferencing Based on Topological Point Pattern Matching. Proceedings of AutoCarto 2006.
Qiu, F., K. Woller and R. Briggs. 2003. Modeling Urban Population Growth from Remotely Sensed Imagery and TIGER GIS Road Data, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, Vol. 69, No. 9, September, 2003, 1031-1042.
- Updated: October 6, 2006
