Dr. Hawthorne is a National Geographic Explorer and a tenured, associate professor of geographic information systems (GIS) in the department of sociology. He graduated from OWU in 2003 with a geography major and English minor. He is a public scholar broadly trained in human geography with expertise in community-based scholarship and citizen science. In 2015, he founded an internationally-recognized research group called Citizen Science GIS. The group’s goal is to connect scientists and society through the use of geospatial technologies to make science more accessible and responsive to community concerns. Along with UCF support and that of several public partners and Lynx, a local bus company, the team is building the nation’s first GeoBus™, a mobile STEAM research and education lab on a repurposed 40-foot city bus that provides geospatial technology learning experiences to K-12 youth and teachers in Florida.

He is happy to be contacted by students, faculty and alumni from the Geography, Environmental Studies, Sociology, other STEM fields, and those interested in careers in the academic world, public and community scholarship, international fieldwork and travel, or visioning to find your why/purpose in your work.

• Conducting a virtual webinar
• Mentoring a student

While at Ohio Wesleyan Dr. Hawthorne was involved with CLEAR, OWU Golf team, Geography and Geology student group. He also stays in regular contact with OWU professors, Krygier and Rowley, and their students.