The Canadian Cartographic Association annual conference will be held online May 25-26th, 2022.
We live in a world with complex and intertwined social, health, economic, demographic and natural challenges and opportunities, as COVID-19, wildfires, drought and floods (among other occurrences) have demonstrated in just the past two years. While we are awash with technologies and platforms that continually produce new data on some topics, data gaps remain concerning pressing issues. In addition, we must consider quality of data and fitness for purpose when data are available, and working with historical data that could provide context for many problems and discussions is often difficult. From concept to data collection to designing effective summaries and visualizations, how do mapmakers focus themselves and their audience on the stories geospatial data can help us tell? How does cartographic design apply in the diverse contexts in which location and spatial relations can help us understand our environment? How are design principles applied (i) in the forums and platforms on which our maps now appear and (ii) with the expectations users bring to maps and location?
Keynote Presentations
May 25
James Cheshire — Atlas of the Invisible: Maps and Graphics That Will Change How You See the World.
Professor James Cheshire will share how he and Oliver Uberti transformed enormous datasets into rich maps and cutting-edge visualisations for their latest book Atlas of the Invisible. It is a book that reveals happiness levels around the globe, tracks the undersea cables and cell towers that connect us, examines the concealed scars of geopolitics, and illustrates how a warming planet affects everything from hurricanes to the hajj. James will outline how a collaborative approach and workflow are crucial to creating compelling visualizations and will draw examples from he and Oliver’s data rich maps to show how information that usually only appears as figures in scientific journals or technical reports can be transformed into compelling full-page graphics for a broad audience.
James Cheshire is Professor of Geographic Information and Cartography in the UCL Department of Geography and Director of the UCL Social Data Institute. He is co-author of the critically acclaimed books London: The Information Capital, Where the Animals Go and Atlas of the Invisible. James is the recipient of a number of major awards from the Royal Geographical Society, The American Association of Geographers, The North American Cartographic Information Society and British Cartographic Society. He was President of the Society of Cartographers between 2017 and 2019.
May 26
Mark Palmer — Indigenous Peoples, Calendars, and Mapping Space-Time.
It is often challenging to think of Indigenous maps as 2-dimensional constructs. Complexity stems from relationships between landforms on earth and constellations in the sky. Indigenous knowledge systems contain tangible and intangible elements that must be considered when developing representations. One example of an Indigenous knowledge system is the calendar. Indigenous people have long cultivated extensive knowledge of movements of the Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars and many constellations, keeping highly accurate calendars over a span of several thousand years. Calendars are closely associated within the space and time of ceremonial and agricultural cycles and have a direct relationship with environmental stewardship and food sovereignty. This presentation will discuss the creation of a three-dimensional dome planetarium project that considers many cartographic related elements like scale, projections, orientation, and symbolization. In some ways, 3-D visualization technologies are thought to create a more realistic representation of environments than 2-D images. On the other hand, 3-D visualization technologies distort and transform space. Indigenous media is increasingly using 3-D visualizations for storytelling, story mapping, and knowledge transmission.
Mark Palmer is Associate Professor in Geography at the University of Missouri. His work focuses upon the social aspects of geographic information systems including the uneven development of geographic information networks within institutions and their connections and disconnections within indigenous communities around the world. Palmer’s Recent work includes research on UNESCO World Heritage nomination maps/GIS, Indigenous mapping, and processes of Indigenous imaging and visualizations. He has published in journals like the Annals for the Association of American Geographers, Cartographica, Sustainability Science, and the Canadian Geographer. Professor Palmer is a member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma.
Program
May 25
Opening Remarks and Keynote – 11:00 AM EDT / 8:00 AM PDT
- James Cheshire — Atlas of the Invisible: Maps and Graphics That Will Change How You See the World (see details above)
Session 2 – 12:30 PM EDT / 9:30 AM PDT
- Jagadish Boodala – Application of cartographic generalization models on datasets of two different mapping agencies
- Ameen Kadhim – Topographical map of the Lower Zab in Iraq and Iran.
- Alex McPhee – How to Start a Basement Wall Map Business
Session 3 – 2:05 PM EDT / 11:05 AM PDT
- Nicholas Kellett – Building Geospatial Solutions for a Changing World: The Need for Speed
- Ekaterina Daviel – Mapping Trends in Stream Water Temperatures with the Upper Bulkley River Water Temperature Dashboard
- Mingke (Erin) Li – Analytical operations for terrain data modeled in Discrete Global Grid Systems
- CCA Executive update / discussion (in lieu of an AGM)
Session 4 – 3:40 PM EDT / 12:40 PM PDT
- Marikka Williams – Postmodern Portolan Charts
- Martha Bostwick – A New Cartography Program at COGS – After the First Year
- Christopher Hewitt – Digitizing 1956 – 1966 Canadian Census Tract Maps: Sources, Challenges and Opportunities
- end of day wrap up
May 26
Opening Remarks and Keynote – 11:00 AM EDT / 8:00 AM PDT
- Mark Palmer — Indigenous Peoples, Calendars, and Mapping Space-Time (see details above)
Session 2 – 12:30 PM EDT / 9:30 AM PDT
- Stephanie Pyne – Emergence and Reflexivity in Student Sketch Mapping of Residential School Survivor Stories
- Annita Parish – Sketch Mapping Process for Residential School Survivor Stories
- Shawn Johnston – Told on the Land: Sketchmap of Dennis George Greene’s Residential School Survivor story.
- Melissa Castron – Transdisciplinary Research and Reconciliation: Mapping Exhibition Work
- Romola V. Thumbadoo – Cybernetics, Social Media, Photoatlases and Cybercartography: Indigenous Elder William Commanda’s temporal/spatial Circle of All Nations work and legacy in the digital mapping era.
Session 3 – 2:05 PM EDT / 11:05 AM PDT
- Daniel Brendle-Moczuk – A territorial acknowledgment map for the Victoria BC area: Wrestling with complexity and simplicity
- Todd Brown – Traditional Knowledge and Land Use Studies During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Elise Olmedo – Memories of Exile: Mapping highly emotional stories from Rwanda.
- Oksana Atwood – Poster / Map: Pandemic Postcards: A life review tool to process Covid-19 experiences
Session 4 – 3:40 PM EDT / 12:40 PM PDT
- Lizzy Hoffman – Collaborative Mapping with the Skeena Knowledge Trust (1 hour workshop)
- end of conference wrap up