The Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI) is giving Queenslanders and visitors the opportunity to reflect on our history, to celebrate our achievements and to involve our youth into the future during celebrations for Queensland's 150th Birthday. The community, its school groups, and visitors, will have local monuments through which to reflect on yesterday's achievers, to become spatially aware and to imagine tomorrow's global technologies.

The spatial sciences profession (put simply, surveyors, map makers and those who work with location information) will be placing over 60 GPS Marks at significant locations around Queensland during 2009. The marks will accurately depict latitude and longitude and provide the public with a means to check the accuracy of their in-car, in-boat and hand-held navigation devices.

The project was launched at the Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying in Brisbane on 24 June. Check out the Photo Gallery for photos from this and other events.

Queensland's early explorers were often surveyors. Local members of SSSI Queensland will tell the stories of early surveyors and map makers by placing signs adjacent to many of the GPS Marks and celebrating 150 years of Queensland's history through public events celebrating the past and showcasing the future of the profession.

SSSI is fortunate to have Dr Neil Divett, Hon Fellow of SSSI, as patron. He says "This exciting opportunity to celebrate 150 years of surveying and map making in Queensland will really allow us to raise awareness of our distinguished profession." Dr Divett, Queensland’s last Surveyor-General, epitomises the way surveyors have helped map and develop Queensland since 1859, when they surveyed the border between NSW and the new State of Queensland.

The SSSI Queensland Chairman, Tom Taranto, is keen to encourage the general public to celebrate the future of the spatial sciences through this project. "The signs will show accurate GPS coordinates, enabling travellers, boaties and sportspeople to be confident their GPS is accurate. Likewise geo-cachers will use them in this sport of tomorrow. Geo-caching is a modern version of orienteering, using GPS technology and run largely via the internet." Tom explains, and adds "Safety is always a concern and accurate GPS readings contribute to public safety both on land and at sea."