Cape Cod-Based Cartographers Win Big For Arctic Map

FALMOUTH, MA — For the third year in a row, Woodwell Climate Research Center cartographers have won top awards for an Arctic map at the Esri User Conference.

Originally founded as the Woods Hole Research Center in 1985, the Woodwell Research Center has its headquarters in Falmouth.

Developed by Woodwell Climate cartographer Christina Shintani and co-producer Ravdna Biret Marja Eira Sara, the map, Navigating the new Arctic: The uncertain future of Arctic reindeer herding, shares the story of nomadic reindeer herders on the frontlines of immense changes to their climate and land use, and the ways in which these changes are impacting the seasonal migrations of the reindeer and the herders’ traditional ways of life, officials said.

This year, the map won three awards: the International Cartographic Association and International Map Industry Association (ICA-IMIA) Recognition of Excellence in Cartography award, the Envisioning the Future award, and the Cartography Special Interest Group Excellence award.

It was also featured in the conference’s Map Gallery, a major event following the plenary, attended by thousands of viewers from all areas of the geospatial technological industry, officials said.

“The Arctic is warming at a rate three to four times the rest of the planet, and the effects of this warming are deep and widespread. Climate change is touching everything, and this is just one story that highlights that intricacy,” said Christina Shintani, Woodwell Climate’s cartographer for this year’s award winning map. “Our map tells a critical story about what climate change, as well changing land use, including expanding infrastructure, hydropower projects, and mineral exploration, means for indigenous communities and ways of life that are rooted in the land around them.”

As part of a partnership started in 2024 between Permafrost Pathways and the International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry and the Arctic Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School, Woodwell Climate researchers traveled to Norway and explored the route of migration of the Fálá reindeer herd in Western Finnmark, led by the map’s co-producer Ravdna Biret Marja Eira Sara.

This set the relationship foundation needed to build a map of such capacity and detail, officials said.

“Geospatial data is key to solving any problem climate change presents us with, and maps are one of our best ways to tell the complex stories this data provides. It makes the most important solutions more comprehensive to a wider audience,” said Greg Fiske, Woodwell Climate’s Senior Geospatial Analyst and 2023 winner of the ICA-IMIA Recognition of Excellence in Cartography, “Christina’s map is an incredible example of that storytelling, and is a strong first step in what we hope is an ongoing, intricate collaboration with these communities who have a profound story to tell.”

The Esri User Conference, held annually in San Diego, is the largest geospatial technology conference in the world, with over 20,000 geospatial professional attendees and over 700 maps submitted for the gallery.