Niklas Anderson from the Ho-Chunk Nation’s Realty Division
received the very first Emerging Leader Award from the Wisconsin Land
Information Association (WLIA) at their 33rd annual conference in Middleton,
Wisc.
The Emerging Leader Award is given to an individual in the
first seven years of their Land Information/GIS career who demonstrates
exemplary individual technical achievement and/or leadership within the
Wisconsin land information community.
“This award really is a testament to the Ho-Chunk Nation for
taking advantage of a technology that is changing the way that we manage and
administer land. With the checkerboard pattern of the Nation’s lands, this
technology is the best way to obtain professional high accuracy data whenever
we need to,” stated Niklas Anderson.
Mr. Anderson is the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Program
Administrator from the Ho-Chunk Nation’s Realty Division. The Realty Division was created to serve the
Ho-Chunk Nation and its membership by providing services including but not
limited to acquisition and disposal, mapping, locating, retrieving, and storing
and maintaining records regarding Ho-Chunk Nation lands.
UAS is a system comprised of unmanned aircraft, cameras,
sensors, GPS, software, and various other field and technical equipment. Products the UAS program produces are high
resolution imagery from photogrammetry, topographic surveys, 3D models,
vegetation health, thermal mapping, photography, and videography. The Nation utilizes this technology to obtain
data about the Nation’s lands so that superior decisions can be made regarding
land management.
“I am humbled to be recognized by the association but first
and foremost appreciative to the many friends and mentors that have made an
impact on my career along the way,” acknowledged Niklas Anderson.
The purpose of WLIA is to foster the understanding,
development, operation, and maintenance of a network of statewide land
information systems. WLIA Conference
award winners commit countless hours going above and beyond expectations to
further GIS and land records modernization in Wisconsin.