ESRI Award Winner 2025
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Momin Ashraf wins prestigious Jack Dangermond Young Scholar Award 2025 for Groundbreaking Research on Conflict Boomtowns
Congratulations to our colleague, Momin Ashraf – Geospatial Consultant – who has been awarded the Jack Dangermond Award 2025 in recognition for his master’s dissertation applying geospatial science and innovation to a growing humanitarian challenge.
Momin’s research for his University of Oxford Masters in Sustainable Urban Development explored a unique and urgent phenomenon: the rise of conflict boomtowns—rapidly expanding urban settlements that emerge in fragile, conflict-affected regions, particularly across the Global South. These forms of urbanisation pose complex challenges for governments, humanitarian organisations, and urban planners alike.
Harnessing the power of machine learning, Momin developed a novel approach to automatically map these fast-growing settlements. His work could offer new insights into how conflict-driven migration and informal developments reshape the urban landscape—insights that are critical for planning, response, and resilience-building in vulnerable regions.
The Jack Dangermond Award, named after the founder and President of Esri widely considered a pioneer in geospatial science, celebrates and recognises outstanding contributions by individuals who exemplify innovation and impact in geospatial research.
In addition to receiving the Jack Dangermond Award, Momin has also been honoured with ESRI’s international award for Outstanding Spatial Analysis. This award recognises the best spatial analysis conducted globally in 2025, is open to projects from around the world, and is judged by a panel of cartographic experts at ESRI.
“Being presented the award by ESRI’s CEO Jack Dangermond himself, and having the chance to speak with him and many other cartographers I’ve long admired, made it an unforgettable experience. None of this would have been possible without the continued support of the Catapult and Emma Hatton, who have played such a key role in my professional development. I’m also deeply grateful to Andy Norris, who has been an incredible mentor over the past four years, helping me grow both my cartographic and analytical skills.” – Momin Ashraf
Momin’s innovative work stands as a bold example of how space technology can help alleviate some of the world’s most pressing challenges by offering governments and humanitarian organisations insights to shape decisions around planning and support.
Congratulations, Momin Ashraf, on your well-deserved recognition!
