Fraser Taylor

Biography

Professor Taylor received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Edinburgh and did postgraduate work at the University of London and Harvard University. Currently he is Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies, and in International Affairs. As well, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 2013 he was awarded the Carl Mannerfelt Gold Medal by the International Cartographic Association and in 2014 he was the recipient of the Killam Prize in the Social Sciences. The Killam prizes are the most prestigious academic awards in Canada.

Research Interest

Professor Taylor’s main research interests are in the application of geospatial information management to the analysis of key socio-economic problems in a national and international context and the presentation of the results in innovative new cartographic forms. He introduced and continues to develop the new paradigm of cybercartography. His interests in cartography and international development issues are often inter-related. He has extensive field experience in developing nations, especially in Africa, which included a six year period as an education officer in rural Kenya where he completed his Ph.D. thesis on Rural Development in Murang’a District. His research interests in this area include: development studies with special reference to Africa, China and Latin America; regional and rural development theory and practice sustainable development and indigenous development strategies; technology transfer in the field of geomatics; Canada’s international policies in ODA; and technology transfer. Current research includes the use of cybercartography to create a series of atlases with Inuit and other aboriginal peoples in Canada’s north. Current funded research projects include: a Canada Foundation of Innovation Infrastructure grant and a grant from the Ontario Leading Edge Initiative Fund for a project entitled A Distributed Data Management Infrastructure for Indigenous Knowledge Research with Inuit and First Nations; a SSHRC Connection grant entitled The technological and intellectual property issues around the repatriation of Inuit knowledge from a foreign museum using the Nunaliit Cybercartographic Framework; a SSHRC Insight Grant entitled Residential Schools Land Mapping Project; an Ontario Brain Institute funded project called Consulting and Development Services to Implement a Mapping System; a Kitikmeot Heritage Society funded project entitled Thule Atlas and Photosphere Functionality and a Sahtu Renewable Resources Board funded project called Data Management Project Online Spatial Data Viewer; and an Aurora Geosciences project entitled Database System for Permafrost data. Professor Taylor is also a co-applicant for the following grants: A UBC led SSHRC Development Grant entitled OceanCanada; a McGill University led SSHRC Development grant entitled An Impactful Multidimensional Partnership for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship: The Social Innovators’ Integration Lab.