This award was established in 2006 to honor Washington State GIS pioneer and mentor Richard “Dick” Thomas. The intent of this award is to honor Dick by continuing his work of encouraging students to present their original research in GIS, geography, or a related discipline at the annual Washington GIS Conference.

The competition has three parts:

1.   Abstract Submission

Using the form below, students submit a succinct abstract (no more than 300 words) describing their original work in GIS or a related field. Abstracts will be accepted from March 1 to March 31, 2023. Each abstract may have up to three co-authors.

A panel of DTA judges will review abstracts and select finalists for the Presentation Competition, which will occur before or during the 2023 Washington GIS Conference. Up to four abstracts will be accepted for presentation and are eligible for cash prizes:

Students will be notified of their acceptance by Friday, April 15, 2023. 

3.   Presentation Competition

This year's competition will be held digitally over Zoom. Date of competition to be determined.  

• Guidelines and FAQs
• Please contact the DTA Coordinator at dta@wagisa.org with any questions.

Recordings from Previous Years

2022

2021

2020