Advancing Geographical and Geospatial Science

This award provides support for the Geographical and Geospatial Sciences Committee (GGSC). The GGSC is a standing committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, a non-governmental institution that provides independent, objective advice to inform policy with evidence, spark progress and innovation, and confront challenging issues for the benefit of society. The GGSC provides an important convening function for discussion and sharing of knowledge among academia, government, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. The committee’s meetings, workshops, and lectures bring together geographers, spatial data scientists, and practitioners in relevant fields to exchange ideas and knowledge. The GGSC increases the impact of geography, mapping science, and geographic information science within the National Academies and among federal agencies and other organizations. The GGSC supports and informs science-based policy efforts and decision-making on issues important to the geographical and geospatial sciences community, which helps to ensure that these fields remain an important area of growth for the nation. This award allows the GGSC to explore the following themes in its meetings and activities: anticipating and responding to environmental disruptions such as climate change or drought, remote sensing to assist humanitarian response to crises, advancing analysis of mixed quantitative and qualitative data, geographic and geospatial dataset uncertainty and bias, sovereignty and ethics of data collection and use, and mapping the future. These are areas where near-term input and engagement from the geographical and geospatial sciences community are critical and can help the nation with future policy decisions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.