Geography and the Environment- Donald Meinig Lecture

Guest Speaker: Cynthia Brewer, professor of geography, Penn State University

The lecture topic is “Making Beautiful Maps Using GIS Tools.”

Maps are made using GIS tools. And map designs are applied to an entire town or country or continent, rather than working only within a single page or screen layout. That challenge means the combinations of symbols and labels are set up to create a clear vision of many possible geographies for map readers. The talk will be about how to make beautiful maps.

Her research and teaching focus is cartographic design. She has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed articles and 60 additional publications and cartographic design resources, generating more than 6,000 citations. Brewer has authored four books, including the popular “Designing Better Maps” with a 2nd edition published in 2016.

She was an affiliate faculty member at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Center of Excellence for Geospatial Information Science (CEGIS), and in 2013 she received the Henry Gannett Award for Exceptional Contributions to Topographic Mapping from the USGS. She is also recognized as a distinguished teacher and received the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) Mitchell Award for Innovative Teaching in 2005.

The Professor Donald W. Meinig Undergraduate Lecture honors the pivotal geographical work of Maxwell Professor Emeritus Donald W. Meinig, a member of the Syracuse University Geography Department from 1959 until his retirement in 2005.