cartography

I volunteer with a number of nonprofit organizations as a community cartographer, and also love to design fun maps in my spare time. See my favorite projects below! To recruit my help on a community-based mapping project, feel free to just shoot me an email.

Mapping Costa Rica

While studying abroad in the cloud forests of Monteverde, Costa Rica, I volunteered with the Asociación de Desarrollo Integral de San Luis to help revitalize their remote rainforest outpost.
Read more

Tuscaloosa Digital Elevation Model

Using topography data from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, I designed this minimalistic DEM of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. Looking at the complex and diverse geologic formations across my state helped me understand why Alabama is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth.

Texan Topographic Test

I made this map for my digital terrain and watershed modelling class-- I wanted to practice using color and shape to create a simple, minimalistic map from complex data. I processed a smoothed DEM using ArcGIS' contours function to highlight relevant topographical information in an easy to digest format, and carefully selected design elements to keep the map clean and readable.

Mapping University Timberlands

Senior year, I conducted an investigation into my university's timber and coal investments. I researched the history of indigenous dispossession, settler colonialism, and the financialization of nature across the landscapes of Alabama, and uncovered potential connections between US carbon market investments and my university's land holdings. I am working on a full manucscript of this research; these maps to show which indigenous cessions UA's land was acquired from, as well as the spatial proximity of Californian carbon finance projects to UA's timber holdings. The University of Alabama continues to profit millions of dollars from more than 40,000 acres of land ceded by the US government from Muskogee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw tribes.

Alaskan Permafrost and Climate Change.png

Alaskan Permafrost Thaw

In the first semester of my PhD, I took a climate systems class, where I performed a simple GIS analysis of permafrost thaw & thermokarst lake area for my final project. This map shows permafrost extent across Alaska in various future emissions scenarios-- permafrost extent is under major threat due to climate change, which will drastically impact hydrologic feedback loops across the Arctic.