Public lecture organized jointly by the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Leipzig University, and the German Cartographic Society | November 15th, 2017. Abstract: Maps have gone viral: they are in our cars, on our phones, and across our news feeds. While the pervasiveness of maps is clear, has this popularity resulted in a tangible improvement to our collective geographic understanding? Is the world any better for the maps we make? In this presentation, I ask how we as cartographers, data scientists, and storytellers might bring more meaning to our work. I hang this discussion across three, multi‐month interactive mapping projects completed in the University of Wisconsin Cartography Lab that had complementary research and design elements. The projects covered very different datasets and contexts—climate change, globalization, and environment justice—but each afforded a deep engagement with domain experts and target users to puzzle through the design and delivery of a meaningful map product. Across these projects, my opinion on what mattered shifted away from the data, and even the map, to the people and places quantified by the data and represented in the map…to the geography. I conclude by brainstorming ways to bring more meaning to our map designs, helping our audience see the geography through our cartography to enable geographic thinking and promote global citizenship.

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48. Kristen Vincent 2/21/15 Data From U.S. Census Bureau, Natural Earth, and EPA
Dynecol, Inc.
1,095,109 Tons
Petro-Chem
459,326 Tons
U.S. Liquids
203,375 Tons
Marathon
93 Tons
Dynecol, Inc.
26 Tons
U.S. Liquids
3,757 Tons
Detroit’s Role in the
Hazardous Waste Trade
Caucasian Population (%)
0-10.0
10.1-26.8
26.9-47.3
47.4-70.4
70.5-98.8
No Data
Detroit
Ontario Quebec
Imports Exports
Import
Export
Import and Export
N
With these hazardous waste
processing facilities, there is the
question of environmental injustice. It
is believed that these facilities are located
in declining neighborhoods that are home
to minorities. However, looking at Detroit,
this is not the case. The facilities are located
in communities with varying race.
Detroit, Michigan is an
importer and expoerter
of hazardous waste with
multiple companies involved
in the hazardous waste trade.
Dynecol, Inc. and U.S. Liquids of
Detroit are involved in importing solid
hazardous waste. In 2007, they combined
to import over 3,783 tons of solid waste. These
imports came from Ontario and Quebec, Canada.
Dynecol, Inc. is the largest exporter in the city, exporting
over 1 million tons of solid hazardous waste in 2007. The
other three exporting companies are Marathon, Petro-Chem,
and U.S. Liquids of Detroit. Combined, they exported over
660,000 tons of waste in the same year. All of these solid
materials were exported to Ontario and Quebec, Canada.
Dynecol
U.S. Liquids
Petro-Chem
Marathon
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