Skip to main content
Cole, Dan

Cole, Dan

Former GIS Coordinator & Chief Cartographer

Share Profile URI

Share Profile URI

Download Profile in RDF
Co-author Network Map of Science Co-investigator Network

Cole, Dan

Former GIS Coordinator & Chief Cartographer

My expertise is in cartography, GIS, and remote sensing applications in a museum research environment.

Positions

Geographic Focus

Background And Education

Education And Training

Professional Biography

  • Daniel G. Cole is the GIS Coordinator and Chief Cartographer of the Smithsonian Institution (SI).  He has worked in this position since 1990, and since 1986 has served as the research cartographer at SI. He was the geographic editor of all manuscript chapters for the Handbook of North American Indians: compiled, designed, and supervised production of nearly all maps in the series published after 1986. His educational background consists of undergraduate (SUNY Albany) and masters (Michigan State Univ.) degrees, plus two years of post–Masters study (Oregon State Univ.), in geography with specializations in cartography and remote sensing. He co-edited, with the late Imre Sutton, Mapping Native America: Cartographic Interactions between Indigenous Peoples, Government and Academia, 3 vols., 2014. He has designed and created maps for multiple exhibits at the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of the American Indian, National Museum of American History, the Sackler Gallery of Asian Art, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Archives, and SI Travelling Exhibition Service. He also serves as GIS, cartographic, StoryMap and GPS consultant to other scientists, exhibit staff and illustrators both within the Smithsonian and other organizations. From June 2009 to June 2010, he was president of the Canadian Cartographic Association; and he is now the past president of the Cartography and Geographic Information Society (CaGIS). On the side, he serves as a judge in the annual CaGIS Map Design competition.

Awards And Honors

Public Biography

  • Daniel G. Cole is the GIS Coordinator and Chief Cartographer of the Smithsonian Institution (SI).  He has worked in this position since 1990, and since 1986 has served as the research cartographer at SI. He was the geographic editor of all manuscript chapters for the Handbook of North American Indians: compiled, designed, and supervised production of nearly all maps in the series published after 1986. His educational background consists of undergraduate (SUNY Albany) and masters (Michigan State Univ.) degrees, plus two years of post–Masters study (Oregon State Univ.), in geography with specializations in cartography and remote sensing. He co-edited, with the late Imre Sutton, Mapping Native America: Cartographic Interactions between Indigenous Peoples, Government and Academia, 3 vols., 2014. He has designed and created maps for multiple exhibits at the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of the American Indian, National Museum of American History, the Sackler Gallery of Asian Art, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Archives, and SI Travelling Exhibition Service. He also serves as GIS, cartographic, StoryMap and GPS consultant to other scientists, exhibit staff and illustrators both within the Smithsonian and other organizations. From June 2009 to June 2010, he was president of the Canadian Cartographic Association; and he is now the past president of the Cartography and Geographic Information Society (CaGIS). On the side, he serves as a judge in the annual CaGIS Map Design competition.

Credentials

Research And Grants

Co-principal Investigator On

Has Expertise In Technique

Keywords

  • Cartography, Geographic Information Systems, exhibit maps, mapping Native American history and land tenure

Publications

Selected Publications

Editor Of

  • Book

    • Cole, Daniel G. and Sutton, Imre. 2014. Mapping Native America: Cartographic Interactions between Indigenous Peoples, Government, and Academia, Cole, Daniel G. and Sutton, Imre, editors. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishers. In Mapping Native America. 2014

Presentations

  • Presentation

    • Cole, Daniel G. 2017. A Cartographic History and Analyses of Indian-White Relations in the Great Plains [presentation]. Flat Places, Deep Identities: 2017 Great Plains Symposium, 2017. Lincoln, NE.
    • Cole, Daniel G. 2012. A Cartographic History of Indian-White Relations over the Past 400 Years [presentation]. 37th Annual Federal Bar Association Indian Law Conference - Mapping Indian Law and Policy, 2012. Santa Fe, NM.
    • Cole, Daniel G. 2018. Educating the Public through the Use of Maps & GIS: Providing Geographic Context for Museum Exhibits [presentation]. International Geographical Union; Canadian Association of Geographers; National Council for Geographic Education joint conference, 2018.
    • Cole, Daniel G. 2017. Exhibiting the Interconnections between Inuit, Narwhals, and Arctic Climate Change [presentation]. Exhibiting the Interconnections between Inuit, Narwhals, and Arctic Climate Change, 2017. Redlands, CA.
    • Cole, Daniel G. 2016. GIS and Cartography Supporting Public Education and Scientific Research at the Smithsonian Institution [presentation]. 33rd ESRI International Users Conference, 2016. San Diego, CA.
    • Cole, Daniel G. 2015. Mapping the Inka Road System for Museum Exhibit Display [presentation]. International Cartographic Conference, 2015. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
    • Cole, Daniel G. 2014. Visualization and Spatial Analyses of Selected Rock Art and Archaeological Sites within a Ritualized Landscape of Far-Western Mongolia [presentation]. 110th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, 2014. Tampa, FL.

Activities

Teaching Activities

Has Knowledge Of

Affiliation

Head Of

Member Of

Contact

Mailing Address

  • IT Office, MRC 136
    P.O. Box 37012
    Washington, DC 20013-7012

Shipping Address

  • IT Office, MRC 136
    1000 Constitution Ave, NW
    Washington, DC 20560