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Announcing new book: Spatial Thinking in Environmental Contexts: Maps, Archives, and Timelines

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08-12-2019 07:27 AM
JosephKerski
Esri Notable Contributor
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I am pleased to announce that a new book that I am co-author and co-editor on has been published by CRC Press, entitled Spatial Thinking in Environmental Contexts--Maps, Archives, and Timelines.  My co-authors and I refer to it as "GeoMAT".  For a brief video about the book, see this link.  Spatial Thinking in Environmental Contexts: Maps, Archives, and Timelines cultivates the spatial thinking "habit of mind" as a critical geographical view of how the world works, including how environmental systems function, and how we can approach and solve environmental problems using maps, archives, and timelines. The work explains why spatial thinking matters as it helps readers to integrate a variety of methods to describe and analyze spatial/temporal events and phenomena in disparate environmental contexts. It weaves together maps, GIS, timelines, and storytelling as important strategies in examining concepts and procedures in analyzing real-world data and relationships. The work thus adds significant value to qualitative and quantitative research in environmental (and related) sciences.   

GeoMAT book cover.

Cover of book Spatial Thinking in Environmental Contexts: Maps, Archives, and Timelines.   

The book features:

    • Written by internationally renowned experts known for taking complex ideas and finding accessible ways to more broadly understand and communicate them.
    • Includes real-world studies explaining the merging of disparate data in a sensible manner, understandable across several disciplines.
    • Unique approach to spatial thinking involving animated maps, 3D maps, GEOMATs, and story maps to integrate maps, archives, and timelines—first across a single environmental example and then through varied examples.
    • Merges spatial and temporal views on a broad range of environmental issues from traditional environmental topics to more unusual ones involving urban studies, medicine, municipal/governmental application, and citizen-scientist topics.
    • Provides easy to follow step-by-step instructions to complete tasks; no prior experience in data processing is needed.

Here are more details:    Reference - 224 Pages - 271 B/W Illustrations | ISBN 9781138631854 - CAT# K32082

 

Who could benefit from this book?  Researchers in a wide variety of fields, but all of whom want to understand what spatio-temporal thinking is and how it can be incorporated, instructors who want to teach with the exciting tools and data sets available through the WebGIS paradigm (such as ArcGIS Online, story maps, Operations Dashboards, Survey123, and more), the "curious general public" who are intrigued by mapping tools and want to explore them, and finally, all who are keenly aware of the challenges we face as a 21st Century society and want to take positive steps to raise awareness of them and solve them.

I look forward to hearing your reactions to the book!  

--Joseph Kerski

Collage of GeoMAT book images.

A selection of images from the book.

About the Author
I believe that spatial thinking can transform education and society through the application of Geographic Information Systems for instruction, research, administration, and policy. I hold 3 degrees in Geography, have served at NOAA, the US Census Bureau, and USGS as a cartographer and geographer, and teach a variety of F2F (Face to Face) (including T3G) and online courses. I have authored a variety of books and textbooks about the environment, STEM, GIS, and education. These include "Interpreting Our World", "Essentials of the Environment", "Tribal GIS", "The GIS Guide to Public Domain Data", "International Perspectives on Teaching and Learning with GIS In Secondary Education", "Spatial Mathematics" and others. I write for 2 blogs, 2 monthly podcasts, and a variety of journals, and have created over 6,500 videos on my Our Earth YouTube channel. Yet, as time passes, the more I realize my own limitations and that this is a lifelong learning endeavor: Thus I actively seek mentors and collaborators.