Support for Early-Career Geospatial Scientists in Research and Professional Development at the International Cartographic Conference 2025

This award supports early career scholars in the fields of cartography and geographic information science (GIScience) to participate in the 32nd International Cartographic Conference (ICC). The aim is professional development of cartography and GIScience academics and practitioners who are currently matriculating or who have recently completed a degree and are in the early stages of their professional career.

The ICC provides a scientific venue that covers the broad scope of cartographic research. Accordingly, it is ideal for early career scholars to present their research and to connect with a community of colleagues in academia, government, private industry, and non-profit organizations. Early- and mid-career scholars who have attended previous ICCs have demonstrated that participation in these conferences leads to productive research in cartography and GIScience, as evidenced by their scientific publications, success in securing research funding, leadership in cartographic and GIScience associations, and direction in setting research agendas.

The long-term impact of this support leads to research innovation and collaboration that promotes the development of future leaders in cartography and GIScience in the United States. Based on the records of previous award recipients, there is evidence that participation in the ICC leads to the development of globally relevant cutting-edge research in which U.S. scholars have taken the lead.

Award recipients become knowledgeable about and well positioned to develop new research agendas in collaboration with the international community, addressing key scientific and societal challenges. The ICC also enables them to disseminate their technical and methodological advances in cartography and GIScience through workshops, seminars, and peer-reviewed publications.

Early career scholars benefit from the exposure to ideas from the cartographic community while also disseminating new methods and perspectives that they have developed. These accomplishments in turn result in the advancement of a creative and productive American workforce conducting innovative research in cartography and GIScience that serves societal interests with respect to spatial information infrastructure.

The ICC provides the award recipients with new insights and approaches to cartographic and GIScience research throughout the world, allowing them to extend their professional networks while providing opportunities to engage in collaborative work.

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.