J. Greg Dobson, GISP

Director of Geospatial Technology | Research Scientist

Contact Information

  • gdobson@unca.edu
  • 251-6973
  • 258 Rhoades/Robinson Hall

NEMAC at the Collider
The Collider, Suite 429
1 Haywood Street
Asheville, NC  28801
828.225.6575

Cell: 828.231.1086

Greg has been a Research Scientist with NEMAC since June 2006, serving first as the GIS Coordinator before becoming the Director of Geospatial Technology. He is responsible for all of NEMAC's GIS activities, research, mapping, and development. In this capacity he coordinates and provides GIS support for the Center’s various projects. His current focuses include: (1) GIS applications for land use, natural hazards, weather & climate, and hydrology; (2) community and climate resilence; (3) 3D GIS and 3D geovisualization; and (4) the integration of GIS with weather, climate, and society. Greg focuses primarily on the use of Esri software and technologies, keeping current with the latest trends and developments and applying those to current projects and research.

In addition to his responsibilities as NEMAC's Director of Geospatial Technology, Greg also serves as an Adjunct Faculty member in the Atmospheric Sciences Department at UNC Asheville where he developed and continues to teach a GIS course for meteorology majors. He stays active and supports in his profession by serving on various local, state, and national boards and committees. Greg holds a B.S. in Geography from East Tennessee State University and an M.A. in Geography from Appalachian State University, both with concentrations in GIS. He also holds the GISP (GIS Professional) Certification from the GIS Certification Institute. 

View my CV

Education

  • M.A. in Geography, Appalachian State University, 2006
  • B.S. in Geography, East Tennessee State University, 2003

Teaching Experience

  • GIS in Meteorology (ATMS 373/325), Spring 2008 – Present: The University of North Carolina at Asheville
  • Introduction to GIS (GIS 111), Spring 2007 – 2015: Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College
  • Introduction to GIS (ENVR 384), Fall 2011: The University of North Carolina at Asheville

GIS Tutorial for Atmospheric Sciences

One of Greg's professional and personal passions is weather and climate. He is especially interested in the integration of GIS with the atmospheric sciences. In 2008 he developed and continues to teach one of the few courses in the country that combine these two subjects. "GIS in Meteorology" has become an official course within the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at UNC Asheville and is offered on a regular basis. Over the last five years, Greg has worked closely with his colleagues at the National Center for Atmospheric Research's GIS Program on the development of a GIS tutorial that teaches GIS within an atmospheric sciences domain. This resource is freely available at https://gis.ucar.edu/projects/course-introduction-gis

Publications

Recent Presentaions (2010-2015)

  • Dobson, J.G. and J.F. Fox, J.F.  “Using 3D GIS to Build and Disseminate Flood-Related Scenario Visualizations.”  The 2015 North Carolina GIS Conference.  February 26th – 27th, 2015, Raleigh, North Carolina.
  • Dobson, J. G. “The Geospatial Bridge.”  (Panel Discussant).  The 95th American Meteorological Society’s Annual Meeting, 10th Symposium on Societal Application: Policy, Research and Practice.  January 4th – 8th, 2015, Phoenix, Arizona. 
  • Fox, J.F., Dobson, J.G., M. Phillips, and J.M. Hicks.  “Climate Explorer: The National Climate Resilience Toolkit Interactive Mapping and Graph Application”.  The 95th American Meteorological Society’s Annual Meeting, 31st Conference on Environmental Information Processing Technologies.  January 4th – 8th, 2015, Phoenix, Arizona.
  • Dobson, J.G. and J.F. Fox.  “Tools and Technologies to Support Flood-Related Decision Making.”   The Asheville Floods of September 2004 – Ten Years of Action, Research, and Mitigation: A Symposium Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the Devastating Floods of 2004. September 5th, 2014, Asheville, North Carolina.
  • Dobson, J.G. and M.F. Squires.  “Local Applications of the NOAA Regional Snowfall Indices and GIS Snowstorm Database.”  (Poster).  The 71st Annual Eastern Snow Conference.  June 3rd – 5th, 2014, Boone, North Carolina.
  • Fox, J.F., Dobson, J.G., Rogers, K.L., and M. Phillips.  “Moving from Analysis to Action – The Next Step for Climate Adaptation.”  The Carolinas Climate Resilience Conference.  April 28th – 29th, 2014, Charlotte, North Carolina.
  • Dobson, J.G. and J.F. Fox.  “Providing Meaningful and Actionable Decision Tools to Local and Regional Stakeholders across the Southeastern U.S.” The 94th American Meteorological Society’s Annual Meeting, 9th Symposium on Policy and Socioeconomic Research.  February 2nd – 6th, 2014, Atlanta, Georgia. 
  • Fox, J.F. and J.G. Dobson.  “Framing the Climate Issue for Small and Medium-Sized Communities across the Southeastern U.S.” The 94th American Meteorological Society’s Annual Meeting, 9th Symposium on Policy and Socioeconomic Research.  February 2nd – 6th, 2014, Atlanta, Georgia. 
  • Kunkel, K.E, L.E. Stevens, and J.G. Dobson.  “Uncertainties in Model Simulations of the Regional U.S. Climate.”  (Poster).  The International Conference on Regional Climate – CORDEX 2103.  November 4th – 7th, 2013, Brussels, Belgium.
  • Dobson, J.G., Morgan, J.D., Kunkel, K.E., and L.E. Stevens.  The Use of GIS and Python Scripting for Processing and Mapping National and Regional Climate Data Simulations.”  The 93rd American Meteorological Society’s Annual Meeting, Third Symposium on Advances in Modeling and Analysis Using Python.  January 6th – 10th, 2013, Austin, Texas.
  • Fox, J.F., Dobson, J.G., Rogers, K.L., and M.W. Hutchins.  Towards a Scalable Climate Adaptation Approach – It’s all about the Decision.” The 93rd American Meteorological Society’s Annual Meeting, 8th Symposium on Policy and Socioeconomic Research.  January 6th – 10th, 2013, Austin, Texas. 
  • Dobson, J.G. and J.F. Fox.  Using 3D Visualization Tools for Integrated Decision Making and Risk Characterization.”  4th Annual Southeast Florida Regional Climate Leadership Summit.  December 6th- 7th, 2012, Jupiter, Florida. 
  • Davis, M., Colby, J.D., and J.G. Dobson. Flood Modeling Accuracy and the Influence of Digital Terrain Model Resolutions Derived from Airborne LiDAR and USGS Elevation Data for the Swannanoa River in North Carolina.”  AWRA 2012 Annual Water Resources Conference.  November 12th – 15th, 2012, Jacksonville, Florida.  
  • Davis, M., Colby, J.D., and J.G. DobsonDigital Terrain Model Evaluation for Flood Modeling in a Mountain Environment.”  North Carolina Association of Floodplain Managers’ 6th Annual Fall Floodplain Institute.  October 12th – 14th, 2011, Boone, North Carolina.  
  • Dobson, J.G., Fox, J.F., Hutchins, M., and K.P. Lichtenstein.  "An Engagement Strategy and Framework for Conducting Regional Climate Assessments."  The American Meteorological Society’s 19th Conference on Climatology and Practical Solutions for a Warming World: AMS Conference on Climate Adaptation.  July 18th – 20th, 2011, Asheville, North Carolina.
  • Colby, J.D., Davis, M., Dobson, J.G., and K. White.  “Digital Terrain Model Evaluation for Flood Modeling in a Mountain Environment.”  The 107th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers.   April 12th – 16th, 2011, Seattle, Washington.
  • Dobson, J.G., Fox, J.F., Hutchins, M., and K.P. Lichtenstein.  "Developing a Framework for Stakeholder Engagement in Conducting Regional Climate Assessments."  The 2011 Meeting of Southeast State Climatologists and the NOAA Southeast Regional Climate Center’s Technical Advisory Committee Meeting.  February 22nd – 23rd, 2011, Tallahassee, Florida.
  • Dobson, J.G., Fox, J.F., Hutchins, M., and K.P. Lichtenstein.  “The Use of GIS in Facilitating Regional Climate Assessments in North Carolina.”  The 2011 North Carolina GIS Conference.  February 16th – 18th, 2011, Raleigh, North Carolina.
  • Hicks, J.M., Dobson, J.G., and A. Krebs.  “GIS and Video Game Technology: New Tools for Urban Planning.”  The 2011 North Carolina GIS Conference.  February 16th – 18th, 2011, Raleigh, North Carolina.
  • Fox, J.F., Dobson, J.G., Hutchins, M., and K.P. Lichtenstein.  “Building the Delivery Truck: Developing Tools that Allow Decision Makers to Move from Assessment to Action.”  The Environmental Protection Agency’s Integrated Modeling to Characterize Climate Change Impacts and Support Decision Making Workshop.  February 1st – 2nd, 2011, Atlanta, Georgia.
  • Dobson, J.G., Fox, J.F., Hutchins, M., and K.P. Lichtenstein.  “Towards a Framework for Stakeholder Engagement in Conducting Regional Climate Assessments.”  The 91st American Meteorological Society's Annual Meeting, 6th Symposium on Policy and Socioeconomic Research.  January 23rd – 27th, 2011, Seattle, Washington.
  • Hutchins, M., Dobson, J.G., Fox, J.F., and K.P. Lichtenstein.  "Stakeholder Engagement and Conducting Climate Assessments in Western North Carolina."  The 20th Annual Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere Fall Conference.   November 17th – 18th, 2010, Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
  • Dobson, J.G., Fox, J.F., Hutchins, M., and K.P. Lichtenstein.  "Engaging Stakeholders for Conducitng Reginal Climate Assessments."  The 35th Annual NOAA Climate Diagnostics and Prediction Workshop.  October 4th - 7th, 2010, Raleigh, North Carolina.
  • Hicks, J.M and J.G. Dobson.  GIS and Video Game Technology: New Tools for Urban Planning.”  The 2010 North Carolina Arc Users Group Fall Conference.  September 15th – 17th, 2010, Carolina Beach, North Carolina.
  • Perry, L.B., Hotz, D., Keighton, S., Lee, L., Dobson, J.G., Hall, D., and C.E. Konrad.  Overview of the 2009-2010 Snow Season in the Southern Appalachian Mountains."  The 67th Annual Eastern Snow Conference.  June 8th – 10th, 2010, Hancock, Massachusetts.   
  • Dobson, J.G., Fox, J.F., Pierce, T., Phillips, M., and K.P. Lichtenstein.  “Developing Climate Communication Tools for Integrated Decision Support at the Local and Regional Level.”  The 90th American Meteorological Society's Annual Meeting, Fifth Symposium on Policy and Socioeconomic Research.  January 17th – 21st, 2010, Atlanta, Georgia.