Photo Science Team Awarded Ecological Restoration Geospatial Support Contract

LEXINGTON, KY – March 15, 2006 – Photo Science and the South Florida Water Management District (District) have signed a 3-year contract for geospatial services to support scientific and technical initiatives including the comprehensive Everglades Restoration.  This contract is part of the District's larger Science and Technology Services Program which covers several disciplines ranging from biological monitoring to GIS / remote sensing and wildlife consultation.  The Photo Science Team for this contract includes Battelle, MDA Federal (formerly Earth Satellite Corporation), and BPC Group, Inc.  Photo Science Team members bring the collective expertise and experience needed to support the District's diverse mission.  The team includes specialists with a wide variety of skill sets supporting a host of environmental applications including restoration science, ecological modeling, photogrammetric and thematic mapping, remote sensing, satellite image processing, accuracy assessment, database integration, and application development. 

Photo Science has actively supported the District recently by providing emergency hurricane mapping, strategic planning facilitation, application development, thematic mapping, and spatial data QA/QC.  “This contract directly supports our goal to provide the District with the data and decision support tools it needs,” said Jim Cameron, Division Director-GIS & Web Development.  "Photo Science and its team members are well suited to support our expanding geospatial requirements."  The Photo Science Team can support the full spectrum of geospatial capabilities from Photo Science’s St. Petersburg, FL facility.  “We understand the challenges the District faces in balancing development and conservation in these irreplaceable natural systems,” said Photo Science President, G. Michael Ritchie. “We will continue to assist the District’s efforts to accomplish its mission and welcome the opportunity to support all geospatial initiatives at the District over the next several years.” 

About Photo Science:  Founded in 1974, Photo Science is a full-service geospatial firm, specializing in aerial imaging and data collection, photogrammetric mapping, GIS, remote sensing, and surveying services.  Headquartered in Lexington, KY, and with offices located in Philadelphia, PA; Washington, DC; Bangor, ME; Atlanta, GA; Colorado Springs, CO; and Orlando and St. Petersburg, FL., Photo Science’s 200 member professional and technical staff are devoted to providing high quality geospatial products and services to federal, state, and private sector customers. 

About the District: The South Florida Water Management District has been in existence for over 50 years and covers all or part of 16 counties from Orlando to the Florida Keys.  Currently employing more than 1,700 people, the District's mission is to manage water resources for the benefit of the region, including the conservation and development of water supply, the protection and improvement of water quality, the mitigation of impacts from flood and drought and the restoration and preservation of natural resources.  The District extensively utilizes GIS and modeling tools and technologies to facilitate work efforts in the water resources areas.