Karl Benedict is the Director of the Earth Data Analysis Center, and a member of the faculty of the University Libraries and Department of Geography at the University of New Mexico. At EDAC he has worked on a wide variety of development projects including remote sensing applications for transportation infrastructure safety and security, the development of integrated systems for the delivery of environmental public health information, interoperable information architectures for the execution and delivery of regional dust forecasts to public health officials, web-based data discovery and delivery applications as a part of EDAC’s clearinghouse, and a number of standards-based web-mapping applications.
He also manages EDAC’s IT program, developing and executing plans for the evolution of EDAC’s computational resources and applications as technologies mature and change. Dr. Benedict has also developed and presented classes and training in Open Source Geographic Information Systems (GIS), statistical analysis, and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards implementation. Prior to joining EDAC in 2000, Dr. Benedict worked in the private sector, for the US Forest Service and the National Park Service conducting archaeological research, developing database applications, performing data analysis and developing spatial analysis applications.
Since 2011 Dr. Benedict has worked in half-time in UNM's College of University Libraries & Learning Sciences providing support for a number of research data management initiatives and serving as subject librarian for three departments: Geography, Earth and Planetary Sciences, and Computer Sciences. In this position he assists researchers in developing data management plans, acquiring materials in support of departmental research needs, and provides research support and instruction.