20 years of GPS for Dr Merrin

Wow,
I have been using GPS technology to support survey and mapping activities since 1989. How the technology has changed and the range of applications expanded!!!

During a meeting in Hong Kong with WONG Chung-hang (Deputy Director of Survey and Mapping Office), Gordon ANDREASSEND (Former Head of Survey and Mapping Office) and Simon Chi-wo KWOK (Chief Land Surveyor) on 29 July 2009 it came up in discussions that I had been using the GPS technology now for 20 years. I was amazed. So decided to write about it to capture some of those 20 years.

(Mr Kwok, Mr Wong, Mr Andreassend and Mr Pearse)

So, where has GPS taken me? Further than I ever thought.

Initially in New Zealand the technology took me via with the Government survey department (DOSLI) from one end of the country to the other teaching people to use the equipment and undertaking surveys. I either drove, walked, flew (yeah in helicopters) or sailed to forests, mountain tops, farms and to out to sea. Then into a research and application role which included:

• my PhD studies in Australia
• implementing the new geodetic datum in New Zealand (NZDG2000)
• investigating GPS height modelling with the use of geoid models, and
• undertaking audits of surveying and engineering consultancy firms.

Globally I have been involved in projects and events that utilise GPS technology in the following countries:

• Australia
• Fiji
• Iraq
• Kuwait
• Ethiopia
• Eritrea
• Nigeria
• Cameroon
• Canada
• Brazil and
• Antarctica

(South Pole Jan 2000 - fixing cables in -52DegC)

That is pretty amazing. Let me highlight these projects.

• Australia – Processing data to help establish the new Geocentric Datum of Australia (GDA)
• Fiji – Terrain surveys for a new coastal resort involving 4wd quad motorbikes and boats all mounted with GPS receivers
• Africa – Quality Assurance of boundary surveys between countries for the United Nations
• Brazil – Geoid modeling workshop with other global experts
• Antarctica – Tracking ice flows at South Pole and Earth Deformation Monitoring in Trans-Antarctic Mountains including the Dry Valleys.

What a journey so far! Now back to that meeting in Hong Kong, it finished with a tour of Hong Kong’s Satellite Positioning Reference Station Network Control Room. This is where they monitor via 12 GPS receivers the status of the GPS satellite signals in the Hong Kong region.


And to think that after 20 years I finally bought my own GPS receiver. Yeah, now I walk around with a GPS unit in my pocket disguised as a phone (Love my Nokia E71).

Grow well
Dr Merrin

Professional Speaker

Looking for a Professional Speaker that can motivate your staff and inspire them to perform nearer to their full potential, well there are many choices.

However, if you want to have an environmental and sustainability focus from someone that has been out there connecting with nature and the business community your options are more select.

This may be why you are looking at this site. Thanks for visiting. Here is a little more about myself, Dr Merrin Pearse, the Professional Speaker.

I specializes in connecting businesses with their environment, in particular the natural environment. As an Ecoprenuer, I am an ecologically-focused entrepreneur. Raised on a New Zealand dairy farm and with a PhD in Geodesy (read expert in GPS Technology and Mapping) my career has connected me with all the continents of the world, from surveying at the South Pole to nature conservation projects in the tropics. I have been recognised with the Award of Merit for my work on the International Border between Ethiopia and Eritrea, voted the best conference presentation (topic: quality assurance) and is active on numerous business sustainability committees.

Through my surveying experiences I have witnessed the destruction of unique natural environments which could have be avoided with more sustainable design and build options. These experiences have focused me on this journey of speaking to others about the beauty of nature and how we can all live and work in harmony with our natural environment. I have lived in New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong and travelled extensively. I have spoken with groups such as Land Surveyors, Property Owners/Developers, Rotarians, Entrepreneurs and School Classes.



If you are looking for a dynamic and passionate speaker that can bring together the realities of business with the desire for staff and colleagues to perform at their full potential then I am your speaker.

To find out if I am available then contact one of my preferred Speaker Bureaus:
- in Hong Kong - Speakers Connect http://www.speakersconnect.com
- in Singapore - SpeakerStation.asia http://www.speakerstation.asia

Of course once the date is confirmed we can discuss the format for the Keynote Presentation that will be serve your requirements and the audience. Here are some of my presentation topics:

• A Path Towards to Sustainability - An inspirational personal storey of my own journey from a land surveying career to being an Ecopreneur.
• Living with Eggs - Explores how people’s passions can be hidden within an organization and if not hatched then their full potential is not being utilized.
• GPS - Getting People Smiling - Delivered as Dr GPS the presentation provides people the chance to reveal their creative abilities while reducing their barriers to communication, resulting in stimulated and supportive staff.
• Awakening the Dreamer – Changing the Dream Symposium - A half-day guided interactive video workshop developed by the Pachamama Alliance (http://awakeningthedreamer.org/) designed to awaken and inspire people to take action in the pursuit of a fair, peaceful and sustainable future.

Looking forward to speaking to you soon!

Grow well
Dr Merrin

P.S. - I also provide MC services, check those out at
http://asia-ecopreneur.blogspot.com/2008/12/hong-kong-mc.html

I am ready to travel to your event!

An eco week in London

I have had a great time connecting with such inspiring people that are making an incredible difference to the way we are living on this planet. Thanks to you all so much for sharing your time.

I thought that it would be quite interesting to let you know who I have met up with as I am sure there are some exciting opportunities to work together.


So here is a list of the people I met in the order I caught up with them. Having said that I am going to start with one of the people that I did not catch up with though who was instrumental in my introductions to many people. Thanks Gina.

Gina Lazenby - http://ginalazenby.wordpress.com/ is inspiring women for success in business & at home.

Katie Young - www.katieyoungdesign.com is pioneering ethical and eco design & product development, and has recently produced stylish raincoats from fabric made from plastic bottles.

Chris Le Breton is part of a team of people promoting The Awakening the Dreamer Symposium in London. He is active with the Transition Towns initiative. He is also planning a bicycle tour from New Zealand to London via Asia in 2010.

Mike Southon - http://www.beermat.biz/mike_southon.php Thanks for sharing the wonderful space at the Adam Street Club and your wonderful insights into business via your knowledge of the Wealth Dynamics profiling. If you really want to experience the energy of Mike then check out Mike Fab-Gere (www.fabgere.com) and book him for an extremely entertaining and educational event.

Joining Mike and I at the Adam Street Club were:
- Shaylesh Patel - www.healthyplanet.org - Healthy Planet enables you to support conservation by adopting plots in protected parks throughout the world and helping to map the parks, monitor the parks and fund conservation actions in the parks.
- John Grant - http://greenormal.blogspot.com/ - is a green marketing expert.
- Al Tepper - http://www.linkedin.com/in/altepper - who is an integral part of Natural Collection (www.naturalcollection.com) the UK's leading green amazon.com type etailer
- Susan Mills and Adam Pattantyus who are driving forces in the Resilient Cities Initiative which is model for swift, aligned action for climate and other social issues. They are yet to have details online about this initiative. They both work for www.merrimackmanagementassociates.com

Catching up with Oliver Tickell was going to be in Oxford and then we discovered he was going to be in London at the Sustainable Development Commissions Break Through event. So as his Kyoto2 (www.kyoto2.org) proposal was one of the 20 projects being presented.

At the SDC event I got to meet the following great people
- Maria Adebowale from Capacity Global (www.capacity.org.uk) was talking about cultural diversity. Loved her approach. Their mission statement is "A fair and equitable society can only exist if everyone has a right to participate in the major decisions that affect their lives. Only with full public participation can effective strategies for social justice, eradication of poverty and a healthy environment be found."
- Lesley Lambert from Compassion in world farming (www.ciwf.org.uk) which certainly struck an accord with my upbringing on a farm and the various situations animals can be raised.
- Mark Shearer from ProjectDirt.com (www.ProjectDirt.com) who are providing a wonderful online platform for groups and business to let people know via maps where they are making a difference in their community.
- Duncan Kay from the Sustainable Development Commission (www.sd-commission.org.uk) where he is a Transport Policy Analyst. Duncan turned up at the conference wearing a suit and riding a bike! Sounds like my travel to work in HK.
- Chris Church from Mapping for Change (www.mappingforchange.org.uk) who specialise in providing participatory mapping services to communities, voluntary sector organisations, local authorities and developers using a suite of innovative tools for communication.

A day around Charing Cross was had meeting up with:
- Jon Ralls who is a leading part of the Be The Change Initiative (www.bethechange.org.uk). One of the components of the Be The Change Initiative is hosting the Pachamama Awakening the Dreamer Symposiums.
- Leon Aarts who is a Social Innovator and the founder of Extraordinary Ones (www.extraordinaryones.com) which is helping individuals make a difference with every purchase they make.
- Jeff and Julie Wicks who are superb couple that base themselves between Hong Kong and Australia (yes they were in London). They support a number of social causes as well as providing great mentoring.
- Ashley Blackmore who I had not seen since being in Bali together in 2005. Ashley provides guidance & stimulus to organisations with sustainable environment & healthy living agendas. http://www.ecademy.com/account.php?id=65773
- Cyrille Jegu from www.naturalstep.org. The Natural Step is an international not-for-profit organisation dedicated to education, advisory work and research in sustainable development.

The Triumphant Events Team - http://www.triumphantevents.co.uk/
Michael Clarke offered me the chance to crew at Topher Morrison (www.tophermorrison.com) The Winning the Game of Wealth 3 day seminar. What a great event and thanks to Daniel Priestley and the TE Team. Daniel looking forward to hosting your social media seminar in Hong Kong. For those of you in London check out when the next seminar is at http://www.triumphantevents.co.uk/events?access=social-media-affiliate-marketing

Other crew members at the TE Event were:
- Janay Alexander is doing wonderful work helping mothers to keep the child birthing process simple www.thebirthspecialists.com (The website should be active by the end of July)
- John Hancock is giving pets an eco bed option. Check out www.petlifeonline.co.uk
- Justine Clare is doing great things assisting people to utilize Social Media tools. For ideas head to http://Triumphantmedia.wordpress.com

Final thanks must go to Christine and Steve for allowing us the use of their car and house. The house did come with Christine’s mother and sister, which was superb. Thanks Kath and Katy for your hospitality. Katy is a UK immigration specialist and her company is www.definitive-is.com

So a superb week was had and I look forward to hearing the successes of your respective projects.

For those of you who have not met me you might like to check out the view from our place in Hong Kong at http://asia-ecopreneur.blogspot.com/2008/02/magic-of-mui-wo-lantau-island-hong-kong.html

Grow well
Dr Merrin