National Park Service

2016–current. Vector web map published using Mapbox Atlas. Data compiled in QGIS and PostgreSQL/PostGIS.

Park Tiles is the general-use, visitor-oriented web basemap for the National Park Service, and is used in a number of maps on nps.gov. Example live versions can be viewed on the NPS maps page, the Yellowstone Live Roads map, and Golden Gate NRA, among many others. Read more about Park Tiles and the closely-linked tools my team develops and maintains to bring web maps to the National Park Service website.

2019–current. Vector web map published using Mapbox Atlas. Data compiled in QGIS and PostgreSQL/PostGIS.

The National Trails and Rails Program needed a map to quickly show which Amtrak routes had volunteer-led interpretive programs. This was one of my team's earliest attempts at truly integrating GL-enabled data overlays and styling into a custom map. By using the robust capabilities of the Mapbox GL Style Specification, I could adopt cartographic conventions found in transit maps, like parallel offset lines that indicate routes that share a common right-of-way. This also provides for greater range of labeling properties.

The Yellowstone Live project is comprised of a series of wall monitors, interactive kiosks, and web maps that convey current conditions at the park to visitors. An initial version had been in operation for a couple of years when, in the spring of 2017, park staff determined that some of the colors used in the application might not be accessible to color-blind viewers. In addition, colors selected to convey "open" vs. "closed" were not used in a consistent way across the various displays. Specifically for the road status map, park staff also requested a unified set of road symbols that would elimniate the need to toggle different map states with radio buttons. I assessed current conditions using the Color Oracle simulator and developed alternative color and map symbols schemes, which I helped implement in the code base once designs were finalized. I adapted the slide deck above from my presentations to park staff and the project team (view a larger version here). View the live roads map on NPS.gov.

In 2017, I took over management of my division's comprehensive map of all National Park Service units, regions, affiliated sites, national trails, national rivers, and national heritage areas. In doing so, I shifted the workflow over to MAPublisher to give me greater flexibility for cartographic symbolization and overall layout design.

In 2021, a version of this map was included in Mapping America's National Parks, published by Esri Press.