Dana Tomlin, PhD

Keynote lecture overview: Many of us in the field(s) of geospatial information technology tend to see the world as one of discrete objects: points, lines, and polygons representing things like buildings, water bodies, and land parcels. Some of us, however, tend to see that world instead as one of sampled continua: pixels representing things like distance, direction, and density. A few of us are even comfortable in integrating these two perspectives. While that integration is quite straightforward in terms of mechanical processing, it can still be challenging in terms of underlying concepts and implications. This presentation explores those concepts and implications in hopes of meeting this challenge within the context of spatial intelligence.

Dana Tomlin is a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design and an Adjunct Professor at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Dr. Tomlin’s work focuses on the development and application of geographic information systems (GIS). As developer of some of the earliest GIS software, author of GIS and Cartographic Modeling (ESRI Press 2012), and originator of the Map Algebra language embodied in most of today’s raster (image-based) GIS software, he is recognized as one of the world’s leading contributors to this field.