J. A. COOPER - HUMAN GIS

ABOUT ME

Human Geographer, GIS Cartographer

I am the Director of GIS Research at Child Care Aware of America, a geography graduate of both The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (M.S.) and Emory & Henry College (B.A.), and a former geospatial researcher and developer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. My love of maps has been a lifelong passion, and I have been thrilled to utilize this enthusiasm in my geographic studies and professional work. I have used GIS to map college football fandom data nationwide, attributes of conservation in Southwest Virginia, the sustainability of tourism in Tennessee, gentrification in Denver, population figures in Yemen and North Korea, and food preference patterns in North Carolina.

Cooper presenting at Emory & Henry College's Ampersand Day, 2016

"Damn, you're a smart dude. I'm glad you're on our side."

- state child care advocate (2024)

PORTFOLIO

Theses

2020. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville: Master's Thesis. “Making Orange Green? A Critical Geographic Approach to Carbon Footprinting Tennessee Football Tourism.” J. A. Cooper. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/5629 <Full Text Link>

2017. Emory & Henry College: Undergraduate Honors Thesis. “All Our Teams: The Geography of SEC Fandom and Southern Identity.” J. A. Cooper. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_selectug/9/.

Scholarly Publications

2022. Annals of the American Association of Geographers 112(3): 847-858. "Community-Engaged Regenerative Mapping in an Age of Displacement and COVID-19." Solange Muñoz, Elizabeth A. Walsh, J. A. Cooper, and Jeremy Auerbach. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2021.1978838.

2021. Journal of Cleaner Production 318. “Bracketing sustainability: Carbon footprinting March Madness to rethink sustainable tourism approaches and measurements.” J. A. Cooper and Brian P. McCullough. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128475.

2021. Southeastern Geographer 61(3): 197-199. Cover Art Essay: “Festival Lights in the Scruffy City.” J. A. Cooper. https://doi.org/10.1353/sgo.2021.0014.

2020. Tourism Geographies 22(3): 525-535. “Cancelling March Madness exposes opportunities for a more sustainable sports tourism economy.” J. A. Cooper and Derek H. Alderman. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2020.1759135.

2020. Journal of Sport & Tourism 24(1): 31-51. “Making orange green? A critical carbon footprinting of Tennessee football gameday tourism.” J. A. Cooper. https://doi.org/10.1080/14775085.2020.1726802.

2020. FOCUS on Geography 63. "Tweeting Images of Fandom: A Geographic Photo Analysis of Southeastern Conference Football Support." J. A. Cooper. https://doi.org/10.21690/foge/2020.63.3p

2020. Southeastern Geographer 60(4): 360-362. Book Review: Belonging: A Culture of Place (by bell hooks). J. A. Cooper. https://doi.org/10.1353/sgo.2020.0029.

2019. Northeastern Geographer 11: 1-29. "Fandom on the Air: Assessing Regional Identity through College Football Radio Networks." J. A. Cooper and Edward H. Davis. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_geogpubs/27/.