A summary of this Andy Woodruff fellow

I am a cartographer working primarily with online interactive maps and spatial data visualization. I'm a recent graduate of the Cartography and GIS master's degree program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Geography and am now working as a developer for Axis Maps, building upon the two and a half years I've spent helping design and build the latest and greatest from the UW-Madison Cartography Lab. My particular niche is in Flash/ActionScript. On my blog I post about my projects and other happenings and thoughts in my line of work. Contact me at awoodruff@gmail.com.

Like many a cartographer, though, my interests extend to all the arts and sciences that go into a map, as well as the geography we represent with maps. I always enjoy simply walking through and taking photos of a landscape or (even better) a cityscape.

If you're interested, below is the story of my academic and professional life.

Education

  • 2007
    Master of Science, Cartography and Geographic Information Systems
    • University of Wisconsin-Madison
    • Advisor: Mark Harrower
    • Thesis title: "The Utility of Aerial Photos in Online Maps"
  • 2005
    Bachelor of Arts, Geography
    • Ohio Wesleyan University
    • Graduated summa cum laude
    • Minor in History

Work

  • 2008-present
    Lead Developer, Axis Maps
    • My responsibility at Axis is not only to lead the coding side of maps we produce for clients, but also to develop useful (and fun) applications and components that down the road will be beneficial to us, our clients, and map audiences. We're a small team that makes many decisions as a group, so I also contribute to other steps in the mapping process, such as design.
  • 2006-2008
    Cartographer, UW Cartography Lab
    • In my 2+ years at the Cartography Lab, I've worked on a number of team projects, typically for on-campus clients or audiences, producing both print and online maps. My roles have varied from leading programming on interactive maps to minor maintenance and updates of existing print and interactive maps. For the Cartography Lab products that bear my mark, see my portfolio.
  • 2007-2008
    Project Assistant, UW Sea Grant Institute
    • I have worked primarily on the Hydrologic Dashboard (see my portfolio for more details), but also have assisted on a few other projects. The overall goal of my work is to bring an existing wealth of data into the type of aesthetically-pleasing, easy-to-use, and highly-interactive online maps and visualizations that have been the focus of my training and experience.
  • 2004
    GIS Intern, City of Kettering, Ohio
    • As an intern in the City of Kettering's Engineering Department, I was responsible for a variety of GIS and mapping tasks. My major contribution was to mapping the city's storm sewer system by collecting GPS data in the field and from that creating GIS layers.

Teaching

  • 2006-2007
    Teaching Assistant, UW-Madison Department of Geography
    • For two semesters I instructed lab sessions for Geography 360: Quantitative Methods in Geographic Analysis.

Presentations

  • 2008
    "The Utility of Aerial Photos in Online Maps"
    • 104th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Boston
  • 2007
    "Interactive Web Mapping Using Adobe Flash"
  • 2007
    "Exploring the Relationship between Navigational Tools and Geographic Context in Interactive and Static Maps"
    • Co-author with Jamon Van Den Hoek (presenter) and Evangeline McGlynn
    • 103rd Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, San Francisco

Awards

  • 2007
    American Congress of Surveying and Mapping 2007 Design Competition (Professional Category)
  • 2006
    First Place, NACIS Student Web Mapping Competition (Interactive Category)
  • 2006
    Barbara Bartz Petchenik Memorial Graduate Award in Cartography Design
    • UW Department of Geography
  • 2005-2006
    University Fellowship
    • University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • 2005
    Robert E. Shanklin Distinguished Scholar Award in Geography
    • Ohio Wesleyan University Department of Geology and Geography