| BLS | Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| CBO | Congressional Budget Office |
| CGIS | Canada Geographic Information System |
| CGS | Council of Graduate Schools |
| CREATIV | Creative Research Awards for Transformative Interdisciplinary Ventures [program, NSF] |
| CRO | contract research organization |
| EAGER | Early-Concept Grants for Exploratory Research [program, NSF] |
| EHR | Education and Human Resources [directorate, NSF] |
| ERC | European Research Council |
| ERTS | Earth Resources Technology Satellite |
| ESRC | Economic and Social Research Council [UK] |
| FY | fiscal year |
| GBF/DIME | Geographic Base File/Dual Independent Map Encoding |
| GDP | gross domestic product |
| GIS | geographic information system |
| GPS | Global Positioning System |
| GSS | Geography and Spatial Sciences [program, NSF] |
| HRHR | high risk, high reward |
| IBM | International Business Machines |
| INSPIRE | Integrated NSF Support Promoting Interdisciplinary Research and Education [program, NSF] |
| IPCC | Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |
| ISSC | International Social Science Council |
| LGBT | lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender |
| MODIS | Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer |
| NASA | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| NCGIA | National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis |
| NIH | National Institutes of Health |
| NOAA | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
| NRC | National Research Council |
| NSB | National Science Board |
| NSF | National Science Foundation |
| PCAST | President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology |
| PI | principal investigator |
| R&D | research and development |
| RAPID | Rapid Response Research [program, NSF] |
| RET | Research Experiences for Teachers [program, NSF] |
| REU | Research Experiences for Undergraduates [program, NSF] |
| SBIR | Small Business Innovation Research [program] |
| STEM | science, technology, engineering, and mathematics |
| TIGER | Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing |
| UC | University of California |
| UK | United Kingdom |
| UN | United Nations |
| UNESCO | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization |
| U.S. | United States |
| USGCRP | U.S. Global Change Research Program |
| USGS | U.S. Geological Survey |