About Me...

I am an Assistant Professor of Applied GIS at James Madison University (JMU) where I also serve as faculty director for the JMU Map Lab. I have broad interests in cartography/GIS, information visualization, human-computer interaction, and media studies.

My research examines the interplay between psychology and design to understand how people can make sense of geographic information. More specifically, I study interactive map design, data storytelling, and trust in maps. Much of this work has focused on media studies and environmental science domains. I use a range of mixed-method research approaches including questionnaires, focus groups, content analysis, and scale development. In the future, I aim to integrate my research on trust with my passion for enhancing the user experience of interactive mapping tools.

I currently serve on the editorial board of Cartography and Geographic Information Science and am a member of the International Cartographic Association Commission on ethics.

I not only teach about and research maps, but I also produce them (though not as much as I used to). My approach to mapmaking was largely shaped by my undergraduate education at The University of Wisconsin(UW)-Madison where I worked at the UW Cartography Lab. I continued to create maps during my MS and PhD in Geography at Penn State through the GeoGraphics Lab.

Outside of academia, I worked at Apple Maps as an intern, developing display expectations and design specifications for territory representation

Please get in touch over email at tjprestby [at] gmail [dot] com