John Benhart - Indiana University of Pennsylvania

John Benhart, Professor of Geography and Regional Planning, talks about his efforts to make IUP a center for expertise in mine maps 1:53, 14.6 MB

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As chair of the Department of Geography and Regional Planning, John Benhart is always looking for the best way to educate his students.

As director of the Institute for Mine Mapping, Archival Procedures, and Safety, Benhart has a stake in collaborating with others in the university to ensure that geographical data and maps about mines is easily accessible to rescue workers and coal mining company officials.

“Our ultimate goal is to create an on-line, searchable database of all of our digital mine maps that will help to improve the safety of future coal mining in Pennsylvania by providing needed information about abandoned or unknown mines,” Benhart said.

In addition to the safety and community service the institute provides, there is added value for IUP.

“Our undergraduate and graduate students are heavily involved,” he said, describing the hands-on approach to Geographic Information Systems his department takes. “We want them to learn how to deal with the mine maps, but more important than that, we want them to learn how to use the technology we’re using in the project. It helps them become more marketable.”

The institute also draws expertise from the Safety Sciences Department and the Archives and Special Collections area of IUP’s Libraries, which houses the records and maps of the Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal Company and a large scale scanner for digitizing maps.

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Professor John Benhart

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