GVLSA Projects

Boy Scout Surveying Merit Badge

In April, 2006, the Genesee Valley Land Surveyors Association formed a committee with the purpose of coordinating with Boy Scout troops in the region to help local Land Surveyors get involved with the Boy Scout Surveying Merit Badge Program.

The Surveying Merit Badge was created in 1911, and is an elective Merit Badge. In order to receive the badge, participants must demonstrate knowledge of first aid related to Surveying, demonstrate ability to set up surveying instruments, locate evidence, draw a scale map, use a compass, perform elementary records research, write a description, perform a level run, demonstrate knowledge of GPS, and discuss Land Surveying as a career with a Licensed Land Surveyor.

For more information on the Boy Scout Surveying Merit Badge Program, visit the links below. If you are a GVLSA Member and wish to volunteer with the Merit Badge Committee, or if you are a local Boy Scout Council or Troop that would like more information on local Land Surveyors who would like to be part of the Surveying Merit Badge Program, please contact a committee member or use our Contact Form.

GVLSA Surveying Merit Badge Committee:

  • Jared Ransom (Chair)
  • Bob Hatch
  • Doug Churchill

Boy Scout Councils in the GVLSA Regional:

Surveying Merit Badge Links


Joseph E. Glickman Memorial Scholarship

Joseph E. Glickman was a prominent Land Surveyor in the Rochester area. Amongst the highlights of his career are owning and operating his own Land Surveying firm, and serving as Monroe County Surveyor. He was a founding member of the Genesee Valley Land Surveyors Association, and he was actively involved in the New York State Society of Professional Land Surveyors and the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping. Mr. Glickman was a strong proponent of Surveying education, fostering the creation of ACSM Student Chapters (including the Joseph E. Glickman Memorial Student Chapter of ACSM at SUNY Alfred, named in his honor), and helped create several scholarships for Land Surveying students in New York State.

In memory of Joseph Glickman, the Genesee Valley Land Surveyors Association created the Joseph E. Glickman Memorial Scholarship Fund, Inc., which awards an annual scholarship to a student or students enrolled in the Surveying Engineering Technology Program at SUNY Alfred.

For more information about the Joseph E. Glickman Memorial Scholarship please use our Contact Form. SUNY Alfred Surveying students: Scholarship are conducted annually during the fall semester and scholarships are awarded at the NYSAPLS Annual Conference in January – contact your advisor for more information.

Click Here to Download the Scholarship Application Form


Trig-Star

High School Math Skill Award

The TrigStar Program Contest is an annual high school mathematics competition sponsored by the National Society of Professional Surveyors based on the practical application of Trigonometry. The program recognizes the best students from high schools throughout the nation.

The Genesee Valley Land Surveyors Association (GVLSA) is actively involved with the Trig-Star program at high schools within the region.

The purpose of the TrigStar Program:

  • To promote the study of trigonometry in high school and to promote excellence in the mastery of trigonometry by honoring the individual student who has demonstrated superior skill among classmates at the High School level.
  • To acquaint the high school trigonometry students with the use and practical application of trigonometry in the surveying profession.
  • To build an awareness of surveying as a profession among the mathematically-skilled high school students, career guidance counselors and high school math teachers.

During the school year, local Land Surveyors will coordinate with local high schools to arrange to give a presentation about mathematics in the Land Surveying and Mapping professions – and administer the Trig-Star Local Exam (Level I). The exams are given and scored, and a Regional Winner is declared (often, a Local Winner is declared for each participating school). The names of the Regional Winners are forwarded to the State Coordinator in May of the school year and a State Winner is chosen. All State Winners are then eligible to take the Trig-Star National Exam (Level II), and three National Winners are chosen (1st, 2nd and 3rd place).

GVLSA makes a monetary award available to each high school’s Local Winner, and an additional award is given to the Regional Winner. If chosen as State Winner, an award is available from the New York State Association of Professional Land Surveyors, the Trig-Star Sponsoring organization for New York State. Each State Winner is eligible to compete to become one of three National Winners. The National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) provides a monetary award for the winning students and a corresponding monetary award for each student’s trigonometry teacher.

In addition, all students participating in the Trig-Star Program at any level are eligible to apply for the NSPS Annual Trig-Star Scholarship, which can be used to enroll in a college degree program that leads to either a two year Associates degree or a four year program leading to a Bachelor degree in surveying and mapping.

For more information about the Trig-Star Program, Exams and Scholarship, please visit the NSPS Trig-Star Website.

GVLSA Regional Trig-Star Coordinator: David Clark, L.S.
NYSAPLS State Trig-Star Coordinator: Ed Summerhays, L.S.