2024 NACIS Election
Thank you for taking the time to consider the candidates for the NACIS Board of Directors. Please review the candidate bios and then submit a ballot on the right side of the page.
NACIS 2024 candidate statements
Vice President Elect
Nick Lally
I am an associate professor of geography at the University of Kentucky where I teach cartography and build tools to expand possibilities for cartographic expressions of space. I have long valued the vibrant practices, voices, discussions, and debates that the NACIS community nurtures. As President, I seek to support this unique community while helping to incorporate the next generation of scholars and practitioners. I believe cartography has a unique role to play in responding to global crises, which requires building a community that can generate expansive directions for cartographic thought and practice. Personally, NACIS has been such an important part of my intellectual community since joining the discipline and the annual meeting has long been my favorite conference. I am excited to contribute to the maintenance and growth of the organization while highlighting diverse voices and practices that will move cartography forward.
Treasurer
Neil Allen
Neil graduated from the University of Kansas and moved to Oregon to become a cartographer with Allan Cartography and eventually Benchmark Maps. He has facilitated the publishing of hundreds of maps in the recreation/wall markets. He joined NACIS back in 2001 where he quickly engaged with the society and board. He was president in 2012 orchestrating the conference in Portland, Oregon. He looks forward to continued service to NACIS.
Board of Directors (two-year term)
Jessica Breen
As a NACIS Board member, my primary goal will be to broaden our outreach to educational institutions particularly those that lack dedicated Cartography or Geography departments. Working in a university library within an institution that hosts neither department, I’ve witnessed firsthand the significant resource gaps faced by educators and students when it comes to cartographic education. To address this, I propose mobilizing the tremendous talent within the NACIS community to create resource kits for librarians and educators. These kits could build on the already substantial collection of tutorials and demos created by presenters at Practical Cartography Day to provide essential tools for integrating cartographic education into diverse academic programs.
Starting with the NACIS conference in Pittsburgh in 2014, I’ve participated in six meetings, with student travel awards significantly supporting my early attendance. [Thank you!!!] These experiences shaped my approach to cartography and introduced me to NACIS’s exceptionally supportive community, truly ‘the nicest’ there is. Now that I have the opportunity, I’m eager to give back to the community. My experience in navigating and bridging diverse educational contexts has equipped me with a unique set of skills, ideal for enhancing NACIS’s mission. I am deeply committed to using my understanding of educational needs and resource development as well as collection management to help NACIS reach new audiences and foster a richer, more inclusive cartographic landscape. Let’s work together to make these tools accessible and to continue spreading the value of cartography far and wide.
Silas Hill
Hello! I’m Silas, a geographic information officer/cartographer with CeLeen, a contractor with USAID. In this position, I’ve been able to work with international partners to map a hodgepodge of things from changing border contexts to reclaimed public spaces in local communities. In my free time, I’m throwing pottery, cyanotype printing disappearing landmarks, and mapping my favorite spots for mushroom foraging in New York City.
While I am relatively new to NACIS, attending the board lunch last year inspired me to pursue a more involved role. My aim as a board member is to aid ongoing efforts in the Communications/Outreach, DEI, and Awards committees. Specifically, I am committed to expanding outreach to our Spanish speaking colleagues across North America. I would like to explore initiatives such as live translation services during the annual meeting to facilitate greater participation and engagement from our Spanish speaking members. From my experience working with GIS colleagues across Latin America, we’re missing a large group of people that I would love to help reach.
Lily Houtman
If selected for the NACIS Board, I will strengthen diversity by increasing student participation and expanding current DEI initiatives. I am a graduate student at Penn State and first attended NACIS as an undergraduate at UW–Madison. I will draw on these experiences to increase student participation in all aspects of NACIS, especially presentations and workshops. In particular, I hope to recruit and provide scholarships to undergraduates, students at institutions without geography programs, students at community and tribal colleges, and non-traditional students.
I also plan to contribute to current NACIS DEI initiatives. After serving as a panelist on the 2023 Queer Cartography DEI panel I am inspired to organize more panel sessions that celebrate diversity in cartography. I am currently the student member of the American Association of Geographers JEDI committee, and will use my dual role to improve both organizations.
I have previously been a NACIS Lunch Bunch leader, presenter, panelist, Commons co-organizer, and map gallery participant, and will co-host Practical Cartography Day for NACIS 2024 and 2025. I am an academic researcher and a practicing cartographer working on client projects in Penn State’s GeoGraphics Lab, and will use my perspective and experience to serve and expand the NACIS community.
Special Election: Board of Directors (one-year term)
The nominee for this position will serve the remainder of Carl Sack’s term.
Jack Swab
Jack Swab (he/him) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography & Sustainability at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he works on projects informed by critical, creative and historic approaches. He has a special interest in queer maps, fire insurance maps, map use, map libraries, and map collecting. He looks forward to continuing the important work NACIS has undertaken over the past several years around DEI work, and helping NACIS continue to flourish.
Student Board Member
Zhaoxu Sui
I’m Zhaoxu Sui, a PhD student researching cartography at Penn State. I identify myself as a practical reference map cartographer, Natural Earth data contributor, and an early-career cartography researcher. My research interests are inspired from my reference map makings, focusing on 1) how political-territorial organizations, such as countries, are depicted on maps; 2) how cartography designs vary in diverse cultural contexts; and 3) how place names are represented and manipulated. These interdisciplinary topics help me continue navigating the complex nature of western cartographic processes to better support both mainstream and marginalized thinkings in the field of cartography.
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Nominees for Directors at Large were given the following instructions for their self written bios.
Aim for about 100 words (200 total word maximum)
1. What would you hope to accomplish during your time on the Board? If you are seeking re-election of a Board position, please include what you accomplished and how you contributed during your previous term(s) on the Board. If you have volunteered for NACIS in a non-elected role, or have been involved with NACIS’ initiatives in some way, please include your contributions.
2. What experience and skills would you bring to the Board that would directly impact NACIS’ objectives?
NACIS’ Objectives
- To improve communication, coordination and cooperation among the producers, disseminators, curators, and users of cartographic information
- To support and coordinate activities with other professional organizations and institutions involved with cartographic information
- To improve the use of cartographic materials through education and to promote graphicacy
- To promote and coordinate the acquisition, preservation, and automated retrieval of all types of cartographic material, and
- To influence government policy on cartographic information