Creative Cartography — How Do Owls See?

This year, the only Christmas gift I gave was a poster print of this original map to my five year old niece. It’s a canopy height model with one simple, unconventional twist: I used the canopy height raster to render 1-foot contour lines, and then symbolized the forest floor, under-story, and canopy according to how a Great Horned Owl might peruse them.

I doubt any five year old can comprehend a canopy height model, or birds-eye cartography. Most are just learning how to read letters. However, my niece loved the owl image and the colors. Her parents bring her walking around those woods and they spend hours together looking through encyclopedic animal picture books. We all cultivate sense of place and worldly connection over our entire lifespans. This is a pretty map with important information that she can grow into.

Below is a breakdown of the sources and techniques I used to draw the map. At the bottom I have included a video walking through the basic inspiration and cartographic choices made. Enjoy!

N.B., if the annotations look funny, it’s because I scrubbed all geographic and personal identifiable information from the map prior to publishing.

GIS Data Sources

USGS LiDAR Point Clouds, 2020; USGS National Hydrography Dataset, 2018; Esri Imagery Basemap

Major Cartography Techniques

Rendering various rasters from LPC; blending DEM and hillshade to create shaded relief (see video); generating and symbolizing contours; digitizing new, neater lines and polygons from source vectors; using deflection to draw precise angles; integrating images into layout; non-conventional legend.

Cartographic Element Sources

John Nelson’s Firefly Style File: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/mapping/mapping/steal-this-firefly-style-please/

Owl Silhouette Vector Clip Art: ClipArtMax

Forest Silhouette Vectory Clip Art: IconsPNG

Informational/Inspirational Sources

An Owl’s Eye View of the Bohemian Grove (www.davidrumsey.com)

“Owl Eyes and Vision”, Deane Lewis, (www.owlpages.com)

“Great Horned Owl Nest Plan and Information” (www.nestwatch.org)

The Farm City Vision: A Long-Range Social Ecological Plan for the Town of Putnam, CT (On the Falls’ Premises Part 3; w/ maps)

I wrote “The Farm City Vision” as the third part of the final practicum project toward my master’s degree. This portion evaluates Putnam’s current Plan of Conservation and Development through a social ecological lens. It ends in a piece of speculative fiction that protracts the town’s history (see: Parts 1 & 2) to the year 2055, when perhaps the town will find itself firmly on the path to sustainability. The narrative accompanies original cultural landscape maps drawn by yours truly (ArcGIS Pro), including a 2055 speculative town layout. I am proud of my work, but I post the project here as a draft with the caveat that it deserved more research, a more intensive review process, and at least two more revisions.

part_3_nre5850_practicum_berriault-combinedDownload

On the Falls’ Premises: The Social Ecology of a New England Mill Town (Parts 1 & 2; w/maps)

I wrote “On the Falls’ Premises” for my final practicum course project toward the completion of my master’s degree. Parts 1 & 2 tell the history of Putnam, Connecticut through a social ecological lens. The narrative accompanies original cultural landscape maps drawn by yours truly (ArcGIS Pro). I am proud of my work, but I post the project here as a draft with the caveat that it deserved more research, a more intensive review process, and at least two more revisions.

part_1_2_nre5850_practicum_berriault-combinedDownload

INTERVIEW: THE DEAD DEADS’ ‘DAISY DEAD’ RESURRECTS THE HISTORY OF HER JAW-DROPPING BAND AHEAD OF ‘TELL YOUR GIRLS IT’S ALRIGHT’

Published June 25, 2021 in Atwood Magazine

From the second we met, Daisy Dead surprised me. Entering our webcam meeting, her eyes were X-ed in makeup the way cartoonists portray a dead character — the trademark style her band and their legion of fans, the “Deadcorps”, have worn for nearly a decade of shows and public appearances. Daisy and I laughed upon realizing that this may have been the first time the X’s had been worn exclusively for print.

Full article: https://atwoodmagazine.com/tddi-the-dead-deads-interview-2021-tell-your-girls-its-alright-feature/

INTERVIEW: CHARLES ON TV FLOATS WILD METAPHORS ON NEW SINGLE “GOLDEN ALLIGATOR”

Published June 16, 2021 in Atwood Magazine.


It started as an aimless chant, drain the swamp, and ended with the swamp boiling over.

Unable to look away, Charles On TV broke out his synthesizer and composed the scratch track for “Golden Alligator.” The single and its music video (released May 13 and 14, respectively) bristle with intrigue while grooving along to sounds from the sixties. Charles sings with a voice that is vintage-smooth. He enlivens the song’s retro sonic palette with splashes of modern production. Deep lyrical metaphors soften the song’s political bite, seducing listeners into the uncomfortable gape between truth and lies.

Full article: https://atwoodmagazine.com/cotvga-charles-on-tv-golden-alligator-interview-2021/