Welcome to Clancy Wilmott, and thank you to John Kelmelis: AAG representatives on the Board of Directors of the GIS Certification Institute

The GIS Certification Institute or GISCI was established in 2002 by member organizations: Association of American Geographers (AAG), Geospatial Information and Technology Association (GITA), National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC), University Consortium of Geographic Information Science (UCGIS), Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), to provide the GIS community with a complete certification program, leading to Certified GIS Professionals.

John Kelmelis has completed five years as AAG representative of GISCI’s board of directors and is succeeded by Clancy Wilmott, who assumes a two-year term on the board, and will join Mike S. Scott (Salisbury University) who is currently on the board.

Clancy Wilmott is at the University of California at Berkeley where she serves as an Assistant Professor in Critical Cartography, Geovisualisation and Design in the Berkeley Centre for New Media and the Department of Geography. Wilmott received her PhD in Human Geography from the University of Manchester and also holds undergraduate degrees in Communications (Media Arts and Production) and International Studies (Italian), as well as a postgraduate degree in Cultural Studies from the University of Technology, Sydney.

Wilmott researches critical cartography, new media and spatial practices. She published papers in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Big Data and Society, the Leonardo Electronic Almanac and the Journal of Television and New Media, amongst others. She is also the author of Mobile Mapping: Space, Cartography, and the Digital published in 2020 by Amsterdam University Press. This book argues for a theory of mobile mapping, a situated and spatial approach towards researching how everyday digital mobile media practices are bound up in global systems of knowledge and power.

We are impressed by her experience applying GIS to a variety of projects and by her experience teaching GIS to students from different disciplinary communities. As a member of the board, she will bring an important and needed perspective, and an understanding of the newer challenges in the profession and of the importance of training and awareness GIS Professionals require today.

We would like to express their heartfelt thanks to John Kelmelis for his service and dedication in the last 5 years. He has contributed tremendously the advancement of the GISP credential through providing guidance on important policy issue surrounding the implementation and subsequent revisions to the GISCI Geospatial Core Technical Knowledge Exam that has become a foundation of the GISP certification. John also served on the Executive Director search committee that began its work following Bill Hodge’s announcement of his upcoming retirement.

“The members of the GISCI Board of Directors will miss John’s insights, perspective, and sense of humor and we sincerely appreciate his dedication to our profession and to GISCI,” said Martin Roche, President of GISCI.

The GISCI board meets monthly to ensure the certification process is adapted to new circumstances and effectively administered. Indeed, since the establishment of the institute in 2002, we see continuous innovation to the capabilities of GIS and are still experiencing growth in the field of GIScience. Additionally, a growing number of communities and disciplines – beyond Geography, are gaining interest in the capabilities of GIS.

Learn more about the GISCI at https://www.gisci.org/.