UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Donna J. Peuquet, professor of geography in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences’ Department of Geography, has been selected as a 2016 Fellow by the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS).
Fellows are individuals who have contributed significantly to the advancement of geographic information science education and research. No more than two Fellows are selected in any given year. Peuquet is the 23rd person and the first Penn Stater to be recognized as a UCGIS Fellow.
Peuquet was chosen as Fellow for her research and education contributions to the field of GIScience, as well as her leadership in UCGIS and other geospatial organizations. She will be recognized at the 2016 UCGIS Symposium May 24-26 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
“It's an honor and very flattering to know that my GIScience colleagues value the research I've done over the years, as well as my contributions to UCGIS,” Peuquet said.
“Dr. Peuquet has been one of the most influential researchers and educators in GIScience since its inception as an academic field. Her 1977 Ph.D. dissertation at the State University of New York, Buffalo was a milestone in the development of raster-based geographic information systems, and led to a number of highly influential journal articles. However, Dr. Peuquet is likely most well-known today for her research on spatio-temporal data models,” said Diana Sinton, UCGIS executive director.
“Her book, ‘Representations of Space and Time,’ is truly a landmark publication that shows how synthesizing diverse discourses of spatio-temporal representation can help to understand how and why people interpret the geographic world in the manner that they do,” said Sinton.
Peuquet contributed to the founding of UCGIS through her participation at the very first UCGIS meeting held in 1994 in Boulder, Colorado. Since then, she has served as the lead delegate to UCGIS from Penn State, on the UCGIS’ board of directors, Research Committee, Education Committee and Model Curricula Steering Committee.
In addition to her contributions to UCGIS, Peuquet has taken leadership roles in other organizations, including the International Geographical Union, International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, American Congress on Surveying and Mapping and the American Association of Geographers.
The UCGIS Fellows Program was created in 2010 to celebrate the extraordinary record of achievements of individuals in a variety of spatial disciplines and communities of practice that use spatial information. Fellows are selected by a review committee comprised of the current UCGIS Fellows and members of the UCGIS board of directors.
UCGIS is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization comprised of more than 60 member and affiliate institutions. It was established in 1995 for the purpose of advancing research in the field of GIScience, expanding and strengthening multidisciplinary GIScience education, and advocating policies for the promotion of the ethical use of and access to geographic information and technologies, by building and supporting scholarly communities and networks.