Bob Kolvoord

Bob Kolvoord is the Interim Provost and a Professor in the Departments of Integrated Science and Technology (ISAT), Geography, and Interdisciplinary Applications (IA) at James Madison University's College of Integrated Science & Engineering. He holds a Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Cornell University (1990), an M.S. in Materials Science from the University of Virginia (1985), and a B.A. in Physics from the University of Virginia (1983).

• Roles: Interim Provost, Professor
• Departments: ISAT, Geography, IA
• Key Affiliations: Co-founder of the Center for Image Processing in Education and the Science Approach courses.

His research focuses on geospatial tools in K-12 education, curriculum development, teacher professional development, and spatial thinking skills. He pioneered the Geospatial Semester program, a dual-enrollment initiative integrating GIS into high school curricula.

His publications emphasize geospatial education trends, including the impact of GIS on STEM recruitment, spatial reasoning development, and interdisciplinary learning. Notable works include books like Making Spatial Decisions Using GIS and Making Spatial Decisions Using Remote Sensing.

Dr. Kolvoord's grants include collaborative studies on neural and cognitive indicators of spatial learning, funded by NSF and other agencies. His work bridges geospatial technologies with education to foster spatial literacy and STEM engagement.