A high-level presentation about visual communication and spatial data. Touches on how we communicate scientific data—in this case, spatial data—to people with backgrounds ranging from concerned citizens to policy makers without much scientific background to expert scientists who may or may not be geologists (they could be engineers, epidemiologists, planners, economists, etc).

1. Communicating spatial
information visually
Aileen Buckley, PhD
Research Cartographer
Esri - Redlands

2. Communicating scientific information =
science communication
• According to the Science Literacy Project, scientific research and
novel technologies “play a major role in key political, economic,
cultural and social policy discussions, as well as in public dialogue.”
• In an age of “alternative facts” and shrinking science budgets, and a
time when the U.S. risks losing its edge in research and development,
advocating for an evidence-based approach to decision making,
which is independent of political views, has become crucial.
https://blogs.egu.eu/geolog/2017/10/17/geoscience-communication-a-smart-investment/

3. "Map showing the distribution of the slave population of the Southern states of the United States. Compiled from the census
of 1860. Drawn by E. Hergesheimer. Engr. by Th. Leonhardt." Library of Congress, American Memory Map Collections.

4. Francis Bicknell Carpenter’s portrait titled First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln, 1864, oil on canvas

6. Gulf Stream, Benjamin Franklin, 1769-1770

7. Coral Reefs, Charles Darwin, 1842

8. Cholera Cases, John Snow, 1854

9. Winds and Routes, Matthew Fontaine Maury, 1858

10. Continental Drift, Alfred Wegener, ca. 1912
Distribution of fossils on the different continents 
Alexander duToit graphic of the match of geology 

11. Soil Map of the United States, Atlas of American Agriculture, Francis Marschner, 1931

12. Manuscript painting of Heezen-Tharp “World ocean floor”, Heinrich C. Berann, 1977

13. Science communication
• Helps scientists disseminate their research
• Makes their research accessible to a broad audience
• Boosts the public’s understanding of the study results or
science in general
• Promotes civil discourse, including public discourse

14. Good science communication
• Completeness – make sure the story is comprehensive and complete
• Context – describe linkages and develop comparisons
• Visualizations – envision and visually combine elements
• Synthesis – combine datasets and ideas to form a system

15. Not the same as scientific writing
Scientific writing
• Focus on results and
interpretation
• Provide scientific context
• Text > graphics
• Exclusive authorship
Science communication
• Focus on conclusions and
recommendations
• Provide social context
• Text = graphics
• Inclusive authorship
ian.umces.edu

16. How do we communicate science visually
• Maps
• Conceptual diagrams
• Photos
• Charts, graphs, tables
• Videos
• Infographics
ian.umces.edu

17. Maps
• Site context
• Geographic context
• Historical context
• Scientific data

18. Conceptual diagrams
• Scientific context
• Social context
• Processes and dynamics

19. Photos & images
• Site context
• Social context
• Historical context

20. Charts, graphs, & tables
• Scientific data
• Relevance

21. Videos
• Processes
• Procedures
• Draw attention

22. Infographics
• An information visual or graphic
• Simplify large data sets, compelling images,
limited use of text (or text as an image)
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/surprising-history-infographic-180959563/

23. Forms of science communication
ian.umces.edu
Newsletters  Posters Articles in science journals 
Websites
and apps

Reports 
Presentations 

24. Story maps
• A sequence of maps that narrate
a story…

25. Web-based story maps
• A sequence of maps that narrate
a story…
…that are integrated with text,
photos, and video and provide
functionality, such as panning
and zooming, pop-ups,
magnifying glasses, swipe tools,
and time sliders—all of which are
designed to help readers better
understand the story

26. Explore a story map

27. Esri Story Map Apps

28. Uses of story maps
• Share specific information
• Make sense of our world
• Celebrate special places
• Raise awareness about an issue
• As a tool for education
• Inspire action
• As a reporting mechanism
• To imagine different possibilities
“Stories are remembered up to 22
times more than facts alone,
according to Jennifer Aaker, a
marketing professor at Stanford's
Graduate School of Business.”
https://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/why-do-we-tell-stories/

29. “Our common mission,” writes Alison
Fromme in The Science Writers’
Handbook, “is to explain very
complicated things with both
maximum simplicity and maximum
accuracy.”

30. Science communication is a skill – and an art!
• It’s easy to become mired in jargon
• There may be gaps between what scientists assume the public knows
and what it actually does
• Most scientists receive little to no formal training on how to science
communication
• There is often little incentive to prioritize this
• Creation of visual forms of science communication has required
specialized software – in the past!
Article in the Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3852879/)

31. Resources
• Maps
• Online apps – Esri Story Map Apps (storymaps.esri.com)
• Kickstart lessons – Learn ArcGIS website (learn.arcgis.com)
• Basemaps & data – ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World (https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/)
• Instructions, examples, & resources (e.g., styles) – ArcGIS blog (http://www.esri.com/arcgis-
blog)
• Conceptual diagrams (http://ian.umces.edu)
• Image, symbol, and video libraries
• Online Diagram Creator
• Infographics (from a very quick Google search)
• Piktochart (kiktochart.com)
• Canva (www.canva.com)
• Venngage (venngage.com/)
• Infogram (infogram.com) ian.umces.edu

32. GSA Fellowship
• To help improve communication
of geoscience knowledge
between the members of GSA
and the non-scientific
community
• Spend 10 months gaining
experience and professional
contacts, working in concert
with GSA communications and
member leaders
https://www.geosociety.org/GSA/Jobs_at_GSA/GSA/hr/SciCommFellow.aspx

33. Geoscience
Communication journal
• Help share knowledge and give
more "traditional" recognition to
science communication in the
geosciences
https://www.geoscience-communication.net/

34. Thank you!
These slides are posted on Slideshare:
slideshare.net  search Aileen Buckley