Senior Scientist Karen Kemp, Ph.D., founded and directed the M.S. in GIS (Master of Science in Geographic Information Systems Program) at the University of Redlands in southern California. Dr. Kemp has authored numerous works on GIS education, and has presented many workshops on GIS education as well. She participated in the establishment of a program for certification of GIS professionals and recently completed editing the Encyclopedia of Geographic Information Science. Her scientific research focuses on “developing methods to improve the integration of environmental models with GIS from both the pedagogic and the scientific perspectives and on formalizing the conceptual models of space acquired by scientists and humanities scholars, across a wide range of disciplines.” http://geokemp.net/

Dr. Kemp holds a Ph.D. in geography from the University of California at Santa Barbara (1992); an M.A. in geography from the University of Victoria, British Columbia (1982); and a B.Sc. in physical geography from the University of Calgary, Alberta (1976).

In 2006, Dr. Kemp stepped down as director of the MS GIS Program and moved to Hawai‘i Island. She continues to work with the University of the Redlands, assisting in curriculum development for the Program, and also serves as a senior consultant with the Redlands Institute who provide technical support for her many GIS projects on Hawai‘i Island, including assisting Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail with the implementation of their GIS-based land management system. She is also an Adjunct professor teaching GIS on-line for the University of Southern California.