
about amber j. bosse, phd (they/she)
Map Therapist, Trauma-Informed Educator, Coach
As a non-binary, neurodivergent, pansexual, nonmonogamous human-it seems that it's at my core to break rules and expectations. So perhaps it's no surprise that, throughout my decade’s worth of work engaging in and observing collaborative/participatory projects, I became fascinated
how maps that often break the rules and expectations of functional cartography nonetheless make radical ruptures
at local, state, and federal levels. Today, my service,
research, and teaching work toward understanding how
rule-breaking maps work as well as building community
with other rule breakers.
Keep reading to explore more about my formal training and
review some of the talks and papers I've written over the years...

education
professional development
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Ph.D. Geography, University of Kentucky | 2015-2020
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Funded by National Science Foundation GRFP
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Graduate Certificate in Digital Mapping, New Maps Plus
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M.S. Geosciences, Georgia State University | 2013-2015
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B.S. Geography, University of North Dakota | 2009-2013
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Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy Certificate | Embody Lab | 2023
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Trauma-Informed Space Holding Certification | CULTIVATE with Katie Kurtz | 2021
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Community Guide in Suicide Prevention | Utah Pride Center, SLC Utah | 2021
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Understanding and Applying Nonviolence365 Training | The Martin Luther King Jr., Center for Nonviolent Social Change | 2021
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Be Love Campaign Training | The Martin Luther King Jr., Center for Nonviolent Social Change | 2021
selected works
presentations
Feminists Mapping: Past, Present, Futures Panel. Virtual event. Co-Hosted by University of Albany and the University of Arizona. Presentation Script
“Map Anyway.” Atlas in a Day: Community. Virtual event. Guerrilla Cartography. Presentation Recording and Presentation Script
“One Secret Cartographers Don’t Want You to Know.” 2020 Portland Cartography Symposium. Portland, OR. Presentation Recording
“Empowerment Through Design: A Case for Participatory Cartography.” NACIS 39th Annual Meeting. Tacoma, Washington
“ ‘If I make the changes they asked for, it'll become ugly and ineffective’: Negotiations of design in participatory mapping.” Association of American Geographers 115th Annual Meeting. Washington DC.
publications
Bosse, Amber J. “Collaborative Cartography.” The Geographic Information Science & Technology Body of Knowledge. Invited by editor Robert E. Roth
Fischer, Heather, Daniel Block, Amber Bosse, Tim Hawthrone, Jin-Kyu Jung, Hamil Pearsall, Amanda Rees, and Jerry Shannon. “Doing Community Geography”.” GeoJournal special issue on Community Geography
Kelly, Meghan and Amber J. Bosse. (in press). “Pressing Pause, “Doing” Feminist Mapping.” ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies, special issue on Doing Critical GIS edited by Dillon Mahmoudi and Taylor Shelton.
Shannon, Jerry, Katherine Hankins, Taylor Shelton, Amber J. Bosse, Dorris Scott, Daniel Block, Heather Fischer, LaToya Eaves, Jin-Kyu Jung, Jonnell Robinson, Patricia Solis, Hamil Pearsall, Aileen Nicolas. 2020. “Community Geography: Toward a Disciplinary Framework.” Progress in Human Geography October 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132520961468
Barrett, Emily and Amber J. Bosse. 2021. “Community Geography for Precarious Researchers: Examining the Intricacies of Mutually Beneficial and Co-produced Knowledge.” GeoJournal https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-020-10358-2
Boll-Bosse, Amber J., and Katherine B. Hankins. 2017. “These Maps Talk for Us:” Participatory Action Mapping as Civic Engagement Practice. The Professional Geographer 70 (2): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2017.1366788.