Joseph J. Kerski

UCGIS is pleased to announce that Dr. Joseph J. Kerski, has been selected for its 2021 Lifetime Achievement in GIScience Education Award.  Dr. Kerski, an Education Manager at Esri and an adjunct Instructor at the University of Denver, is internationally recognized as one of the most influential, enthusiastic, and effective proponents of education involving geographic information science and its related technologies in the world today.  He has demonstrated career-long dedication to staying abreast of the latest technologies and conceptual thinking in GIS education and unparalleled energy to produce and provision others with resources in a myriad of media and with diverse delivery methods. Having worked in four major sectors of society (academia, non-profit, private industry, and government, as a Geographer and Cartographer with NOAA, US Census Bureau, and USGS), he brings experienced perspectives about GIScience, GIS, and geospatial technologies to every conversation he has.

Dr. Kerski’s decades’ worth of contributions to GIScience education and his support of GIS and geography students and educators is legendary. He communicates about transforming teaching and learning via geotechnologies by writing and speaking extensively. He has authored or co-authored eight books and over 100 peer-reviewed chapters and articles, but his reach into educational audiences is most profound via his production of open access resources: instructional videos (over 5,000), blog essays (over 1,500), and lessons and other curricular items (over 2,000). He has made educationally-focused presentations at about 350 schools and 150 universities, at 150 major conferences, in 16 countries, and on 5 continents. Each year, he teaches dozens of workshops and presents at numerous conferences, nationally and internationally.

He has worked tirelessly to bring GIScience and spatial learning to all members of the profession and to the general public.  As several of his supporters have noted, “Joseph has to be one of the most broadly curious and supportive colleagues I know and surely the most generous to the whole educational community with his ideas and knowledge.”  “Joseph is a born educator with a drive to teach as well as to learn that is almost miraculous. I have known many industrious educators in my 45 years of teaching, but none with the energy and drive he brings to his craft.”

UCGIS will honor Joseph Kerski and other award recipients during its annual Symposium, online in June 2021.