Teaching Map Projections in Cartography and GIS

This workshop is aimed at faculty and graduate students who must teach elements of map projections in Cartography and GIS classes at the college level, but who have perhaps not taken a class covering them, nor are familiar with their research literature. The workshop will cover:

•Map projection basics

•Classes of Projections and their Differences

•Why projections matter

•The forward and inverse projection

•Sphere vs. Ellipsoid vs. Geoid in Mapping

•How ArcGIS and other GIS packages handle projections

•What open source and other software is good for teaching map projections

•What textbooks cover about map projections

•How to learn more about projections and map projection research

Workshop attendees will be given slides, key papers and other materials so that they can better integrate what they learn into the classroom.

Instructor: Keith C. Clarke

Professor Clarke is the author of Analytical and Computer Cartography, Getting Started with GIS and Maps and Web Mapping, all from Pearson Education. He has published almost 300 papers in cartography, GIS, spatial analysis and modeling and remote sensing. He is past president of CaGIS, a USGS John Wesley Powell Award winner, was the UCSB Outstanding Graduate Mentor award winner in 2015, and has been awarded CaGIS’s Distinguished Career Award. As past two-term chair of the NRC’s Mapping Science Committee, Professor Clarke led and served on many National Academy studies and Boards. He is currently Vice-Chair of the International Cartographic Association’s Commission on Map Projections.





ICA Commission Meetings and AutoCarto Workshops