Who: Andy Woodruff, cartographer.

What: Maps! Cartography!

Where: Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Elsewhere: Twitter inanity. Delicious bookmarks. Photos I've taken (migration to Flickr in progress).

Contact: awoodruff@gmail.com.

More

I am a cartographer working primarily with online interactive maps and spatial data visualization. After completing the Cartography and GIS master's degree program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Geography, I now work as a developer with my fellow UW cartographers at Axis Maps and currently reside in Cambridge, Massachusetts. My work with Axis builds upon the two and a half years I spent helping design and build the latest and greatest from the UW-Madison Cartography Lab. My particular niche is in Flash/Flex/ActionScript, but I also get involved in more design-oriented (and occasionally borderline artistic) projects. 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.

The blog is about, well, cartography. My work, others' work, technical matters, matters of design, thoughts on practical and academic issues, and occasionally just some bitchin' maps. Perhaps it's best summed up by the posts that occupy its first page as I write this. There's one showing a couple of cool found maps, one presenting a map project of my own, one providing some ActionScript code, one pointing to a colleague's map-related site, and one talking about a topic in map and interaction design.

If it's of any importance, 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
    Developer, Axis Maps
    • My responsibility at Axis is not only to handle a chunk of 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

  • 2009
    "Value-by-Alpha Maps: An Alternative to Cartograms"
  • 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