Creating a personal geospatial data history map Guthrie Alexander Most of us are sitting on a surprising amount of personal geospatial data: tracks from GPS watches and handhelds, hiking, biking, and running routes, the location history our phones collect (with and without our knowledge), and every geotagged photo we've ever taken. It all lives in different places, in different services, and in different formats. I'll walk through building a centralized repository for my own spatial data, one that's accessible from anywhere, takes minimal upkeep (hopefully), and serves as both a spatial memory and a motivator to get out and explore more.
Sonoran Desert Journeys Joanne Coutts, Independent Travel is a way of life in the Sonoran Desert. For centuries O’odham, Piipaash, and Quechan people have been guided through the desert by the locations of water sources and the shapes of the mountains. Today, people immigrating to the U.S. also use mountains and water sources to guide their journeys through the desert. Sonoran Desert Journeys explores the connections between Indigenous routes of travel with migrant journeys and humanitarian aid stations, and how O’odham song maps and place names support search and rescue and recovery for migrants who are disappeared in the desert.
Cartography of "Our Neighborhood Walk": what can storymaps tell us about human-canine-environment interactions? Jonathan Nelson, University of Wisconsin-Madison Alton L. Hipps, University of Wisconsin-Madison Makinnley Tomberlin, University of Wisconsin-Madison The “Our Neighborhood Walk” project explores how using personal geo-enabled tracking devices and interactive storymaps can advance understanding of the shared experiences and emotional connections between pet guardians and their companion dogs while walking together. We employ personal visual storytelling design techniques to unlock new insights into how humans and canines collectively and individually perceive elements of the built and natural environment. By cartographically recreating the dynamic, co-constructed sense-of-place that evolves during a routine walk, we aim to facilitate greater awareness of human-canine-environment interactions and prompt critical reflection on how to enhance those interactions in the future.
Personal Mapping: Hand-drawn life stories David Nuttall This talk will dive into the details of a large commissioned map and how the customer homework (source data) leads to research and then hand-drawing a detailed map that includes so many aspects of their life yet feels like a cohesive real place. Stepping through the entire process including concept, discussions, planning, layered feature drawing, procrastination, late additional feature adding, and the nervousness of shipping a finished map. David will show progress images and demonstrate how personal details and non-map aspects can indeed be included in the landscape while getting a glimpse into his mind and thought process.
Thursday October 22, 2026 4:00pm - 5:20pm CDT Room 3
