Jim Thatcher

Jim Thatcher is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Studies at the University of Washington – Tacoma. His research focuses on the intersections of GIScience, Critical Geography, and Urban Studies within the emerging field of Critical Data Studies. He explores the provenance of 'big data' and sociocultural processes shaping its creation and commodification. His work has been featured in The Atlantic and on NPR.

Recent awards include an NSF CyberGIS fellowship to develop curriculum around geospatial technologies. His research emphasizes rethinking the epistemological transition from individual to data point, prioritizing end-users' agency in mobile application data production and control.