Prof. Philippe De Maeyer is currently a Senior Full Professor in cartography and GIS and the Chair of the Department of Geography at Ghent University. He is also a Full Member of the Royal Academy of Overseas Science, Belgium. He received a Ph.D. degree in sciences from the University of Bordeaux I, Talence, France, in 1980. His research interests include applied GIS (especially the use of GIS and remote sensing in archaeology), risk and land-use issues, including risks of climate change (especially in Central Asia), the use of GIS for the risk modeling of floods and other natural hazards, and the use of GIS for accessibility to health care.