The recipients of the FunGIS Geospatial Excellence Awards have been announced.
The volunteer-run, not-for-profit Far North Queensland GIS (FunGIS) group held its 2026 conference in Cairns last week, at which the recipients of its Geospatial Excellence Awards were announced.
The award recipients are as follows:
Radical Researcher – Geospatial Game Changer: GP One Consulting Pty Ltd and the Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines, Manufacturing and Regional and Rural Development, for the Q-Lens platform.
Q-Lens is an innovative geospatial research platform transforming the way native title assessments are conducted. Supporting approximately 700 users, Q-Lens replaced fragmented, manual processes with a structured and evidence-driven methodology that integrates spatial analysis, workflow orchestration, automated geoprocessing and decision-making into a single environment.
By embedding geospatial workflow orchestration directly into the research lifecycle, the solution improves consistency, transparency and auditability while enabling assessors to focus on analysis rather than administration.
Grass Roots and Green – Award for Environmental Impact: GP One Consulting Pty Ltd and the Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines, Manufacturing and Regional and Rural Development, for the EDS 2.0 Early Detection System.
The project modernised the Early Detection System (EDS), which is used to identify and investigate vegetation canopy cover change across Queensland. Through workflow automation, enterprise GIS integration and a flexible new prioritisation framework, EDS 2.0 transformed a largely manual process into a coordinated environmental intelligence platform.
The solution enables faster assessment of potential vegetation clearing events, improves consistency of investigations and helps environmental officers focus on the highest-priority cases.
Far North and Far More Awesome! – Award for Geospatial Innovation in the Tropics: Hinchinbrook Shire Council, LOCMap, LiXiA and FloodMapp, for the ALERT flood awareness system.
The ALERT platform is transforming how Far North Queensland communities prepare for and respond to flooding. The project combines predictive flood intelligence, live river gauges, IoT flood sensors, and community flood awareness into a single flood intelligence ecosystem.
Next Gen Navigators – Award for Emerging Geospatial Talent: Elizabeth Tompkins, Townsville City Council.
As a graduate spatial scientist with Townsville City Council, Tompkins independently redeveloped 15 enterprise GIS applications, leading the organisation’s transition from Geocortex to VertiGIS Studio.
Through self-directed learning and innovation, she delivered modernised web mapping, workflow automation, reporting, and printing solutions that improved usability, streamlined business processes, and supported critical council operations.
There were also two People’s Choice Awards. The first, for Favourite Presentation, was awarded to Rob Beaman of James Cook University. Regular Spatial Source readers will recognise his name, in relation seabed mapping work conducted during the recent voyage of the CSIRO research ship, RV Investigator. He also received the Order of Australia in June this year.
The other People’s Choice Award, for Favourite Spatial Gallery Exhibit, was awarded Gab Garde of the Queensland Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying. You can read about the Museum’s work and collections in our earlier article.
Spatial Source adds its congratulations to all the award recipients.
