Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
(at times inferred by current positions) within the purer “environmental” disciplines
(e.g. GIS, geography, ecology, forestry etc.); however, their contributions provide
innovative or distinct approaches regarding the use of geotechnologies within the
framework of environmental and natural resource management. The result is a series
we believe holds interest to both the physical and social science communities, and
to both academia and professional practitioners. However, like previous volumes,
the material also will be of interest to upper division undergraduate and graduate
students, especially those looking for examples of environmental applications of
geotechnologies.
1.2 About This Topic
Applications of geotechnologies range from the pure social to the pure scientific.
Those interested in human-environment interactions use geotechnologies to study,
report and model the interrelationships between environmental phenomena and
human induced factors that may exist. Arguably, nearly every agency charged with
the management, assessment, measurement, modeling, preservation or conservation
of natural resources employs geotechnologies.
The use of geotechnologies for environmental management can be traced to the
1960s, with separate groups from Canada and US striving to automate and digitize
mapping (Goodchild
2000
). Fast forward a half century later, and the literature has
grown appreciably rich with examples of how geospatial technologies are used for
environmental purposes. Yet notwithstanding the growth of literature and complex-
ity of research in this area of study, there still is ample room in the literature for
examples that explicitly connect applications of geotechnology with management
decision making. Indeed, the inherently spatial nature of environmental and natural
resources lends themselves to the use of geotechnologies, with subsequent results
ideally contributing to sound management and policy decisions. In other words,
an adoption of geotechnologies in environmental management is an example of
research that spans the physical and social sciences.
A little over decade ago, Rindfuss and Stern (
1998
) speculated two possible
reasons why the purer social sciences did not widely embrace spatial technol-
ogy: (1) social scientists (particularly outside the discipline of geography) did not
value the “spatial explicitness” provided by such technology; and (2) scientists and
researchers using remote sensing imagery had little in common with social scientists
regarding their techniques, theories and epistemologies (p. 2). However, considering
the scientific, social, and spatial aspects of environmental management, geotech-
nologies have propagated - and continue to propogate - the collaborative nature
of geospatial knowledge regarding the environment and its resources. As Skidmore
(
2002
) notes, the environment is linked not only to human economic activity and
well-being, but to its own inherent worth. As a result, the integration of the physical
science with social science is essential to address aspects of management, includ-
ing but not limited to sustainable land use and development, and its influence and
impact on society from societal, political, economic and cultural perspectives.
