University of North Carolina Charlotte issued the following announcement on Feb. 9.
UNC Charlotte Knight Distinguished Professor of Public Policy Jean-Claude Thill was named an AAG Fellow by the American Association of Geographers for his immense contributions to geography through research, teaching and mentoring of students and other researchers.
Thill is noted for his substantial research and educational contributions to quantitative human geography and the geographic information science sub-field. He is one of the best-known and most highly regarded scientists in the GIScience sub-field, AAG said.
The data-driven, spatial and interdisciplinary approaches Thill takes help people better understand how social, environmental, economic, policymaking and other processes are organized and related, such as in space, time and other ways.
“Presently, my interests relate to two broad themes, namely transportation and mobility systems and spatial knowledge discovery,” Thill said. “In an increasingly mobile world, the ability for people, freight, capital and ideas to move creates new spatial structures, while erasing others.”
His recent work has advanced topics including impacts of COVID-19, machine learning, traffic and shipping patterns, home-work activity patterns, wireless technologies and urbanization and sustainable development issues, with almost 100 papers published in peer-reviewed journals. Thill also devotes considerable time to students and has mentored 25 doctoral students.
“I was ecstatically happy when I learned of this recognition,” he said. “It took a while to sink in, given how selective it is for a professional organization that is 6,000 members strong internationally. Because the honor touches on both the breadth and depth of my original scholarship and my mentoring of the next generation of scholars, I feel gratified that my peers found long-term value in the core principles that have framed my work.”
Thill is a professor in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences and affiliate faculty in the School of Data Science. He also is active with the Infrastructure and Environmental Systems and Public Policy doctoral programs, the Infrastructure, Design, Environment and Sustainability (IDEAS) Center and the Center for Applied GIScience.
He has written or edited 11 books. The National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, World Bank, the U.S. Department of Defense and the North Carolina Department of Transportation are among the many funders of his research.
“Dr. Thill’s academic stature elevates the reputation of the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences nationally and internationally through the quality of his scholarly achievements and professional service contributions,” said Deborah S.K. Thomas, chair of the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences.
Original source can be found here.
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