Geocart - mapsmiths unite!

I'm up in Auckland for the week, getting my cartography fix and catching up with what's new in the world of New Zealand mapping.  

The 2014 Geocart conference in Auckland got off to a good start on Tuesday night with an icebreaker.  Selfie with Roger Smith and Kenneth Field as the last cartonerds* or mapsmiths* standing.

The conference is an interesting mix of cartography and GIS so far spanning the hidden work of women cartographers, the need for critiques and the important role of cartography on the wider science stage.

Stuart Easton was the first of the MGIS students to present on his irrigation modeling work with LUCI on Wednesday.

Some interesting presentations on tools expanding the contemporary mapping methods such as GNS' use of leapfrog for a 3D geological map of Dunedin.

Ken Field's plenary was a personal whistlestop tour of much of current cartography and the difference between neo-and traditional cartography.  Ken also covered the difficulty in deciding what to call yourself - cartonerd, mapsmith, cartographer, map maker, the list is almost endless.  The talk was an interesting, if somewhat confrontational, approach to the importance of critiquing current map design.

Richard Law (the second of the MGIS students in the hotseat) presented on his public transport modelling work with the ISCR.  

Paul Goodhue (University of Canterbury MGIS student), Richard Law, Stuart Easton (Victoria University of Wellington MGIS students)

This is the first geocart (which is held every two years) with an MGIS student presence.  It was great to see the students holding their own and actively participating in the conference.