Welcome to my website!

News: GIS Commons is on-line

After about five years of writing and development, GIS Commons: An Introductory Textbook to Geographic Information Systems is now available on-line. GIS Commons is not a typical GIS textbook; it is a free, open-source, e-text that helps students, agencies, and organizations understand GIS concepts, analyze spatial data, and communicate more effectively. Please visit the GIS Commons website at http://giscommons.org and let me know what you think. My thanks to Alex Ligeti for helping me bring this website to life and to countless students for their suggestions.

News: The T.H. Jefferson Map of 1849

Recently, I have been working on a project unlike any I have undertaken before. It looks at an overland trail map (in four sheets) and a brief accompanying guidebook, both penned by T. H. Jefferson and published in 1849. This incredibly accurate map guided at least a few goldrushers from Missouri to the California hills.  I'm looking at this map's accuracy, its place in history, and trying to discover something about the mysterious cartographer that made it.

A couple students, Ryan Malhoski and Alan Hyde have helped me in this pursuit. Recently, Alan developed a quick KMZ file that overlays the four map sheets in Google Earth. Although he wants to make the locational properties of the KMZ file more precise, I'm placing it here for any early preview.

I’m currently reading…

You Are Here by Colin Ellard

The Lost City of Z by David Grann