We're talking about a different kind of storytelling this week: with maps and data. I speak with Noah Ahles and Kendall Fortney about mapmaking, visualizations, and how looking at our world from up above and far away can help communities, inspire creativity, and change our view of our role in the world. Music will have geographic inspiration, with songs from They Might Be Giants, Fleet Foxes, and The Angel.

ABOUT THE GUESTS:

Noah Ahles works at the UVM Spatial Analysis Laboratory as a Research Specialist where he creates high-resolution land cover maps across the United States. On a volunteer basis, he started the UVM Humanitarian Mapping Club in 2015 in response to the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa. Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/UVMHMC/

Kendall Fortney has always been fascinated by the intersection of design, data and maps. For the last 8 years he has worked in software in a variety of industries, was the first Data Innovation Fellow for the Vermont Center of Geographic Information and will be starting at Social Sentinel as an Insights Analyst. Kendall also serves as an organizer for the Burlington Data Scientist Meetup, the geospatial and data science conference GeoDatSci, and is part of Code for BTV, a civic hacking group. For more info: https://kendallfortney.com/