In its work towards the establishment of the new empirical scientific method in the late seventeenth century, the members of the Royal Society of London advocated certain principles for the interpretation and representation of the world; significant among these are the dissociation of the individual self from subject matter, simplicity of context, a heavy predominance of mathematical rationality, an atomistic view of material things, and the establishment of a knowledgeable elite. These principles were incorporated in the Royal Society's cartographic activities, of which some continued publication even into the nineteenth century. This influence is evident through out the modern period and well into the twentieth century. They appear as signatures of the modern cartographic style: plainness, or the lack of iconography as visual metaphor; simplicity of context through the elimination of competing viewpoints or connection to related things; a predominant emphasis on mathematical accuracy; utility; and communication. The purpose of 'Plain style' representation was to make information easier for general audiences to read by making it less demanding of thought on the part of the readers.

These principles are largely still advocated in our contemporary cartography textbooks.

Simplicity is highly desirable and is a result of excellence. Because simplicity is relative in a context, it cannot be defined, but it can be recognized... A basic requirement in graphic design is a willingness to think in visual terms, uninhibited by prejudices resulting from previous experience... The controls of map design are the objective of the map, the reality of the area being mapped, the scale, the audience, and the technical limits within which the map must be prepared. (Robinson, Arthur, Sale, Randall, Morrison, Joel. Elements of Cartography. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, pp. 280-2.)

The research I am particularly interested in is in the original regard of these principles as "manly", and others as "feminine and juvenile." The purpose of my research is to bring to light the historical source of these ideals, and to examine the consequences, in the context of gender studies, of modern cartographic design principles established by men in part towards an ideal of masculinity. My hypothesis is that the unacknowledged consequences of Plain style mapping are cultural and logical repression, and an attack on emotive statements and abstractions such as worldviews and spirituality. The problem is not in the practice of cartography by either men or women, but in the power of the established cartography structure that needs examination for embedded gender bias or biases toward other perspectives. I use a semiotic approach that focuses on the use of particular representational signs, cartographic or as GIS.

This research addresses the first conceptual issue outlined in the NCGIA Specialist Meeting Call for Participation: "how particular logics and ways of understanding the world have been incorporated into GIS and how alternative forms of representation may have been neglected." An example of a contemporary epistemological problem of Plain style representation is found in the application of GIS to holistic principles of ecology. For example, U.S. Forest Service ecologists, attempting to implement ecosystem management as a result of a lawsuit by University of Wisconsin botanists, have argued that GIS fails to accommodate new taxonomies of ecological zones. Principles of ecological thought resemble the concerns of cartography before the modern age, and could potentially benefit from the research addressing the possible "masculinization of cartography and GIS.

In addition to my research on Plain style representation, another aspect of my work which falls within the initiative research agenda is the use of GIS in environmental conflicts. I have the principle responsibilities of developing GIS for the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management for the 20 states of the northeastern United States. Our agency frequently experience conflicts between oil and gas development and environmental interests. These take two forms: between private industry and the Federal NEPA process, and between the Federal decision to lease for development and the opposition of environmental groups to leasing. The timeliness of the NCGIS research agenda coincides with the need for input into new national modernization platforms being developed by BLM, the Forest Service, and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. It will thus shed light upon the third conceptual issue, how the knowledge and needs of different social groups can be incorporated into government GIS-based decision-making.

The two issues described above both fall within the research themes established by NCGIA for the 'GIS and Society' Specialist Meeting, of the control of peoples and the political use of natural resource development.

The combination of GIS and postmodern theory creates an exciting opportunity to investigate alternative designs of geographical representation or those which were suppressed in the modern era. My future research will continue to examine the structuring of gender-assigned human qualities in cartography and GIS, and the merging of ecology and GIS for ecosystems management. It will in the future move into the exploration of alternatives which GIS can offer, and whether those alternatives are allowed institutionally by the Federal government.

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