The University of California, Santa Barbra (UCSB) is leading the development of a modern GIS curriculum through the Guide to the Geographic Approach. Ethical practices in GIS are central to this curriculum, and UCSB develops methods that treat ethics as a structured process integrated into asking geographic questions, gathering and evaluating data, analyzing spatial patterns, and communicating results. In this presentation, Trisalyn Nelson will highlight how we teach the ethical dimensions of GIS, including issues of bias, representation, privacy, and societal impact. She will also discuss why ethics has an outsized role in GIS education, research, and practice in the age of AI and GeoAI.
Trisalyn Nelson is the Jack and Laura Dangermond Endowed Chair and a Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of California Santa Barbara. Prior Trisalyn was a Professor and Director of the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University. She began her faculty career as a Geography Professor at the University of Victoria in Canada where she was Director of the Spatial Pattern Analysis and Research Lab.