Weaver, David, 1951-
Biography
David Judkins Weaver (1951-) is an American cartographer and geographer who worked in manual cartography, digital mapping and cartography, and geographic information systems (GIS) from 1974-2016. His work focused on coastal areas, environment, base mapping, and map design. He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1951. In 1974, he received a BA in Geography from Clark University in Worcester, MA.
From 1974-1977, he was cartographer of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA) new Office of Coastal Zone Management. He compiled the natural and cultural resources of the coast and produced maps of the George's Bank in response to a major offshore oil spill. In 1976, he produced the Boston bikemap as a freelance project for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Boston Area Bicycle Coalition.
In 1978, he designed and compiled computer-produced town atlases for Cities Corp, a subsidiary of Esselte Map Service. From 1978-1979, he was a project manager at University of California, Santa Barbara for an exhibit displaying marine science research projects at an international marine science conference.
From 1979-1983, Weaver self-published maps of the New England coast, his version of Matthew Fontaine Maury’s Whale chart, and several editions of Boston bikemap. From 1983-1986, he worked at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) providing cartographic services for state and Boston-area municipalities and produced the Massachusetts bicycle map.
In 1986, Weaver was hired as cartographer for the new MassGIS project, a joint initiative of the EOEA and the United States Geological Survey to build a geographic information system for Massachusetts. Weaver helped develop the first statewide GIS datasets in the MassGIS database, including roads, hydrography, municipal boundaries, aquifers, public water supply wells, hazardous sites and facilities, and land use. In 1989 the project was transferred to EOEA and the scope was broadened to provide staff training and GIS application services support to all EOEA agencies. Projects were also initiated with other agencies including Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In 1991, Weaver left MassGIS and cofounded Applied Geographics, Inc. (AppGeo), a GIS consulting firm in Boston, MA. He managed many projects for municipal, state and federal clients. Weaver was vice president until his retirement in 2016. He remained on the board of directors until 2022. In 2017 Weaver received the Peter S. Thatcher Award from the Northeast Arc Users Group for his career of service to the GIS community. In 2018 he inventoried and organized the chart and map collection of the Boston Marine Society.
