Welcome back from Thanksgiving! We wrapped up our Tofurkey Map with 115 views – including one fan from Ireland. There were 41 contributions to this crowd-sourced break destination map. Here are the superlatives: Fanciest dish: wild rice, apple, and sausage stuffing Most encompassing dish: “All of it!” Trendiest dish?: Vegan almond butter gravy (Here’s the […]
Category Archives: Newsletter
Fourth Annual Tofurkey Map
Are you flying across the world for Thanksgiving break? Or maybe you’re not planning to leave your dorm for five days? In either case, we hope that you’ll contribute to this year’s Tofurkey 2017 Map, a tradition started by former Post-Bac Fellow Victoria to document where and how Smithies are spending the holiday! We will post updates […]
New Elf on the Block – Experience Using Bad Elf GPS With and Without Differential Correction
By Sofia Johnson ’19 As part of our work in the Spatial Analysis Lab, we like to check the accuracy of our equipment by testing it ourselves. We have the opportunity to use new and interesting technology such as new GPS equipment, but we want to assure the quality of our results. Thus, we tested […]
September 2017 Mystery Map Solution
We concluded the first Mystery Map over the weekend with six entries! Despite the robust difficulty testing (an impressive sample size of two), all the contestants proved to be seasoned map puzzle solvers. The victory belongs to Susannah Howard, who identified all the parameters correctly and promptly (submitted the same day it was released, and […]
Upcoming Fall 2017 Workshops!
Communicating Data with Maps October 12, 2017 (Thursday) 4:00 – 5:00 An introduction to the basics for visualizing your data in a map designed for print. Register Humanitarian Mapping for Recent Hurricanes October 16, 2017 (Monday) 4:00 – 5:00 Contribute to disaster response by identifying infrastructure in satellite imagery to inform humanitarians for effective […]
Today in History as Told by Maps: September 26, 1991 / Site Selection
Biosphere 2 (“Warning. All hell’s breaking loose.” — Bio-Dome) is the largest closed ecological system research facility, modeled after the original biosphere, Earth. This day in 1991 marks the beginning of the first two-year mission to study feasibility of self-sufficient systems for potential human space colonies. A planned vivarium spanning 3.14 acres in Oracle, Arizona, Biosphere […]
Today in History as Told by Maps: September 19, 1987 / Fictional Maps
A cult classic, The Princess Bride first captured the hearts and minds of viewers on this day in 1897 (starting, of course, with the Grandson.) The story followed a slew of characters as they traversed the inconceivable landscapes of Florin and Guilder. The love-revenge-espionage plot cast the characters in a wild game of cat and […]
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
The SAL is rhumb-ling ahead in the fall semester! With the new school year, we mosaicked a new team to support the charted and uncharted territories of GIS at Smith. To briefly survey the lab’s topography: Jon, director/the prime meridian of the SAL; your friendly neighborhood post-bac spatial analysis fellow Tracy here; and a cluster […]
First Mystery Map of the 2017-2018 Academic Year
What better way to kick off the fall semester with a Mystery Map? The stakes are high–pride and glory, a spot on the Mystery Map Hall of Fame™, and negotiable baked goods. Behold: When you have a guess, submit your answers below. Submissions are accepted until the end of September!
Today in History as Told by Maps: September 12, 1229
James I of Aragon (appropriately known as James the Conqueror) landed at Santa Ponça, Majorca on this day in 1229—launching the first of his campaigns to capture the Balearic Islands. The largest of the islands, Majorca lies at the heart of economic and cultural interchanges in the Mediterranean. Its geographic location made it highly coveted […]