Navigating Climate Communication: GIS Tools, Technical Communication, and Policy Implications

YoonJi Kim

Advisor: Douglas Eyman, PhD, Department of English

Committee Members: Matthew Rice, Isidore Dorpenyo

Horizon Hall, #4225, https://gmu.zoom.us/j/99346059977?pwd=cl5kplKDXOgE87u9Ub6bPM7XyQHPRZ.1
April 21, 2026, 02:00 PM to 04:00 PM

Abstract:

Environmental decision-making increasingly relies on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to model and visualize environmental risk. While these systems are often presented as tools that improve transparency and public access to environmental data, access alone does not necessarily translate into meaningful participation in policy deliberation. This dissertation examines how GIS models influence environmental decision-making and how experts interpret and communicate spatial data in policy contexts.

Using a sequential mixed-methods design, the study combines survey data from GIS practitioners with semi-structured interviews across government, environmental science, defense, and policy communication settings. Document and interface analysis further examines how GIS outputs circulate in institutional decision-making processes.

Findings show that GIS functions not simply as a neutral mapping tool but as a mediating infrastructure that shapes how environmental problems are defined, which risks become visible, and what forms of evidence are considered credible. The project contributes to technical and professional communication by theorizing environmental data systems as rhetorical infrastructures that structure expertise, participation, and policy deliberation.