Dick Thomas Memorial Student Presentation Competition 
May 21, 2026

Accepting Abstracts Now Until March 31!
*Students will be notified of their acceptance on Thursday, April 23
 

Attention GIS Students and Faculty, 

We are excited to announce that the 2026 DTA abstract submission form is now open. Students can use this form to submit project abstracts for a chance to compete in WAGISA’s annual student competition. There will be four projects selected to present and students will be notified of their acceptance on Thursday, April 23, 2026. You can find the form here: https://wagisa.org/DTA#Abstract_Submission_Form_2026. Please see the Guidelines and FAQs document for more details.

The annual Richard ‘Dick’ Thomas Memorial Student Presentation Competition and Award (the DTA) will be held in-person on Thursday, May 21, at the Bellevue Meydenbauer Center.

More about the DTA Student Competition:

This award was established in 2006 to honor Washington State GIS pioneer and mentor Richard “Dick” Thomas. The intent is to continue Dick’s work of encouraging students to excel in their studies and transition successfully into careers in the field of GIS. The objective of the Washington Geographic Information Systems Association (WAGISA) is to inspire students to present their original work related to GIS, geography, or geospatial research. 

The DTA will be an in-person competition this year. The winners will be announced on the afternoon of May 21 at our annual Washington GIS Conference; DTA competitors can attend the conference for free!

Competition FAQs (See Guidelines and FAQs for additional prizes and competition details)

  • Prizes: Cash Prizes, One-year ArcGIS Personal License, WAGISA Membership, publication in the Summit Scoop, plus possible additional prizes!
  • The DTA Student Presentation Competition is open to all currently enrolled students, and students who have graduated or completed classes within the last year (projects presented need to have occurred while students were attending school)
  • Presentation abstracts will be accepted from March 1 to March 31
  • For more information, please visit our website: https://wagisa.org/DTA

Please pass this information on to your students and contact the DTA Coordinators at dta@wagisa.org with any questions.

We look forward to seeing this year’s submissions!