Alternatively, you will be there as an expert witness explaining to the judge, jury, attorneys, and parties what GIS is, how it works, and why. Sooner or later, almost all participants at this conference will find themselves in the courtroom in one capacity or another. However, I predict that most legal actions will involve the application of spatial analysis and the use of spatial databases in planning and public policy. Thus, one must add administrative law and environmental law to the list. And fauna in northern British Columbia wilderness, where no other data existed, for an environmental impact assessment.
Many more applications are possible today.
Indeed, someone does apply GIS methods or use GIS data to assess wildlife habitat and wildlife populations in the Arctic. In the process, someone will study the musk ox, and question the status of musk oxen. Thus, while you may never have considered the musk ox or the Endangered Species Act of 1973, end users of your analytical methods, data, software or hardware may draw you into litigation about musk oxen. Sooner or later, it will happen. Science is not necessarily just the so called hard sciences of physics and chemistry.