Michael Frank Goodchild facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mike Goodchild
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Michael Frank Goodchild in 2017.
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| Born | February 24, 1944 |
| Education | University of Cambridge McMaster University |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of Western Ontario University of California, Santa Barbara University of Washington Arizona State University |
| Thesis | The Generation of Small Scale Relief Features of Eroded Limestone: A Study of Erosional Scallops (1969) |
| Doctoral advisor | Derek C. Ford |
| Doctoral students | Alan Glennon |
Michael Frank Goodchild, born on February 24, 1944, is a famous British-American geographer. A geographer is someone who studies the Earth's surface, its features, and how people interact with it. He is now a retired professor of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Before moving to Santa Barbara in 1988, he worked for 19 years at the University of Western Ontario. He helped start and led the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis for over 20 years. In 2008, he also started the UCSB Center for Spatial Studies.
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Learning and Discoveries
Professor Goodchild earned his Ph.D. in Geography from McMaster University in Canada in 1969. Before that, he studied Physics at Downing College, Cambridge in England, getting his B.A. in 1965.
Geographic Information Science
Professor Goodchild is best known for his work on Geographic Information Science, often called GIS. GIS is like a super-smart computer mapping system. It helps us understand and use information about places on Earth. For example, it can show where all the schools are in a city or track changes in forests over time.
He is also known for coming up with the term "Volunteered Geographic Information". This means geographic information that people share online, like when you add a new restaurant to a map app. He is considered a top expert on this topic.
Exploring Caves
As a student at McMaster University, Goodchild helped rediscover Castleguard Cave. This cave is 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) long, making it the longest cave in Canada.
His student, John Alan Glennon, also found an entrance and made important discoveries in the Martin Ridge Cave System in Kentucky. This cave system is 51.8 kilometers (about 32 miles) long. Goodchild's professor, Derek C. Ford, is a Canadian expert on landforms and karst (landscapes shaped by water dissolving rock).
Awards and Recognition
Professor Goodchild has received many important awards for his work. Some of these include:
- He became a Fellow of the British Academy in 2010.
- He was named a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 2010.
- He received the Researcher of the Year award from the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science in 2010.
- He won the Prix Vautrin Lud in France in 2007, which is like a Nobel Prize for geography.
- He became a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2006.
- He received the Founder's Medal from the Royal Geographical Society in 2003.
- He became a Member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2002.
- He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) in 2001.
See also
- Alexander Stewart Fotheringham
- Arthur Getis
- Concepts and Techniques in Modern Geography
- George F. Jenks
- Michael DeMers
- Technical geography
- Quantitative geography
- Qualitative geography
- Waldo Tobler
