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Timothy W. Foresman, Ph.D.

Dr. Foresman, President of the International Centre for Remote Sensing Education, is currently on location in Bangkok, setting up the local field office for MapRelief at the Asian Institue of Technology.

With academic credentials in biology, ecology, engineering, and geography, he has pursued a career dedicated to devising strategies and contributing to improved assessments, impact analysis, and early warning to better cope with environmental threats facing humans and the planet; and identifying emerging scientific and technological advances related to these issues, while promoting availability of, and enhancing access to, the scientific information needed by decision makers, as well as the planet's citizens, for improved environmental management and protection, on a multi-national, local and global basis.

Working with the technologies of GIS, remote sensing, and field survey techniques, he has helped design and manage, at local to global levels, including the UN and the United Nations Environment Programme, a worldwide network of regional information centers and Earth research laboratories oriented at implementing global systems to observe, assess, and report on the conditions and trends of the planet's ecosystems, critical habitats, and human environments.

Dr. Foresman worked at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Headquarters, in Washington, D.C., where he led the Digital Earth program as national manager. He continues to help lead this program's legacy, as founding member of the International Society of Digital Earth, sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He continues to serve on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations.

He served as a principal investigator on a variety of scientific research programs sponsored by NASA, US. EPA, US. Forest Service, National Science Foundation, and other state and local agencies. His real-world experience over twenty-six years includes private consulting, county government, federal government, university, and international service. He has over 80 professional publications, including the definitive book on "The History of Geographic Information Systems," as well as book chapters, scientific papers, and over two hundred talks and keynote speeches.

Dr. Foresman's private life includes safaris, water sports, and historic home renovation as resident curator for Maryland. Dr. Foresman lives with his wife Joyce and their menagerie of animals in the Patapsco Valley State Park.

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