Dr. Barbara Buttenfield is a Professor Emerita of Geography at the University of Colorado where she is also the Director of the Meridian Research Lab which develops GIS applications and explores algorithm design and testing to advance knowledge about GIScience. She has had an illustrious and influential career in cartography and GIScience and continues contributing to the field while enjoying emerita status.

She has had a long-standing focus on data generalizing and modeling, and she has made significant contributions to data generalization and modeling and multi-scale mapping and geodatabase design, perhaps most notably through her continuing Research Faculty affiliation with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Center for Excellence in Geospatial Information Science (CEGIS). She has been an investigator on research grants earning millions of dollars; written hundreds of publications in a variety of outlets; given and been invited to give presentations nationwide and internationally; won numerous awards for both her research and teaching; served as the lead and member on numerous national and institutional committees; and mentored scores of students, many of whom went on to hold prominent positions in academic, government, and the private sector.

In recognition of her significant contributions to cartography and GIScience, in 2023 Dr. Buttenfield was awarded the prestigious Distinguished Career Award by the Cartography and Geographic Information Society. Dr. Buttenfield’s many impressive research contributions, particularly as they relate to the advancement of geodata generalization and multiple representations, provide the justification for her being awarded the UCGIS Research Award.