Day 1: Points

Populated places that have “cat” in the name.

Data sources: Natural Earth

Tools: Python, geopandas, PyScript

Day 2: Lines

My running and kayaking GPS tracks at Lake Union.

Data sources: Strava

Tools: Python, geopandas, PyScript

Day 3: Polygons

A country guesser game! Every time you refresh the page, a new mystery country will be shown. Take a (mental) guess and then hover over the area to see if you were right.

Data sources: Esri

Tools: Python, geopandas, PyScript

Day 4: A Bad Map

Seattle neighborhoods colored by name alphabetically. It may look cool but good luck figuring out which neighborhood is which!

Data sources: City of Seattle

Tools: Python, geopandas, PyScript

Day 5: Analog Map

“Neighborhoods CATS” Analog is so unforgiving!

Media: packing paper, Sharpie

Day 6: Asia

Boat rentals in Japan. Reminds me of when I rented a canoe near Arashiyama in Kyoto, though that rental place is not in the dataset.

Data Source: OpenStreetMap via overpass-turbo

Tools: Python, geopandas, PyScript

Day 7: Navigation

There’s a beautiful spot on Bainbridge Island that you can get to from Seattle with out a car… if you’re creative.

Tools: Python, geopandas, PyScript

Day 8: Africa

Estimated rainfall (in mm) in central Africa on November 6, 2023 using the RFE 2.0 model.

Data source: NOAA

Tools: Python, geopandas

Day 9: Hexagons

Number of American Crow sightings in Connecticut between 2021-today (November, 2023).

Method: This blog

Data source: Project FeederWatch, TheCornellLab

Tools: Python, geopandas, PyScript

Day 10: North America

Cities in the path of the total solar eclipse coming up on April 8, 2024, sized and colored by population. Click the image below to explore the map!

Data sources: Eclipses: NASA, Cities: Natural Earth

Tools: Python, geopandas, PyScript

Day 11: Retro

Went with a retro-futuristic 80s aesthetic. Groovy and hypnotic!

Data sources: Natural Earth

Tools: QGIS

Day 12: South America

Volcanoes of Ecuador

Data sources: Princeton

Tools: Python, geopandas, PyScript

Day 13: Choropleth

Privately-managed vs. publicly-managed trees in Seattle.

Data source: Trees from SDOT

Tools: Python, geopandas

Day 14: Europe

Railways in Spain and Portugal, rainbow colored for no reason.

Data sources: Railways from Natural Earth

Tools: Python, geopandas, PyScript

Day 15: OpenStreetMap

Boat rentals and my Strava kayaking tracks. Still a spot I need to try!

Data Source: Boat rentals from OpenStreetMap via overpass-turbo. Kayak tracks from Strava.

Tools: Python, geopandas

Day 16: Oceania

A hand-drawn map of my trip to New Zealand.

Day 17: Flow

Rufous hummingbirds on their way North up the West coast of the USA. Showing sightings on every Saturday from January-April, 2023.

Data source: Project FeederWatch, TheCornellLab

Tools: Python, geopandas

Day 18: Atmosphere

Seattle summers have been smoky in recent years. This year was bad in July and August.

Data souce: EPA

Tools: Python, geopandas, matplotlib

Day 19: 5-minute map

Null Island, featuring Empty Peak, Mount Nothing, Invalid Valley, and Zero River. I set a timer so I can safely say I spent 5 minutes on this. 😄

Day 20: Outdoors

Trailheads in Washington that are within 1 mile of a transit stop.

Data sources: Hikes: Washington Trails Association, Transit: WSDOT

Tools: Python, geopandas, PyScript

Day 21: Raster

Top rated hikes in Mount Rainer National Park with a randomly colored elevation raster background.

Data sources: Hikes: Washington Trails Association, National Park Boundary: NPS, Elevation: Natural Earth

Tools: QGIS

Day 22: North is not always up

World timezones starting at the North Pole. North is in the center.

Data sources: Natural Earth

Tools: QGIS

Day 23: 3D

Not all trees in this dataset have heights, but these ones do. Actual tree heights multiplied by 30, colored by ownership.

Data sources: Trees from SDOT

Tools: QGIS

Day 24: Black & white

More trees! Black Cottonwoods and Oregon White Oaks in Seattle.

Data sources: Trees from SDOT, neighborhoods from City of Seattle

Tools: QGIS

Day 25: Antarctica

A map of Antarctica inspired by my Retro map’s theme.

Data sources: Esri

Tools: QGIS

Day 26: Minimal

Transit lines in the Seattle area.

Data source: WSDOT transit lines, ferries

Tools: QGIS

Day 27: Dot

The three most common native trees in Seattle, according to SDOT’s tree database: Bigleaf Maple, Douglas Fir, and Western Red Cedar.

Data Source: Trees from SDOT

Tools: Python, geopandas, PyScript

Day 28: Is this a chart or a map?

Trees in a grid, colored by height.

Data Source: Advent of Code

Tools: Python, geopandas

Day 29: Population

Urban areas in the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

Data sources: Natural Earth

Tools: QGIS

Day 30: “My favorite..”

Taking it full circle showing cities with “cat” in the name using a Bonne projection with a retro-future theme. Its heart-shaped representing my love for maps and cats!

Data sources: Natural Earth

Tools: QGIS

PyScript allows you to run Python code in a browser, like JavaScript does, so you don’t have to worry about having a local Python setup. It even creates a virtual environment with configurable libraries, which will eliminate a lot of pain points when getting started with Python.

After making a few apps tinkering around, I decided to make a few visualizations in PyScript.

I’ve been doing data analysis and visualizations with matplotlib in Jupyter Notebooks for a while, so I decided to start with a chart. I have a few friends who I play Qwirkle with, one of whom usually wins. I digitized one of our rounds and put it in a plot. Looks like b was ahead the whole time, as usual. Have a look.

For my first web map using PyScript, I made a map of 5 random hikes in the State of Washington, based on data from the Washington Trails Association. There are so many beautiful hikes to choose from, so making a map of just a few has been a fun way to check out hikes I may have missed otherwise. Check it out!

The best way to get started with PyScript is by creating an account on pyscript.com and creating a new project, which is how I made the apps that have been linked in this post.

I’ll definitely keep using PyScript and look forward to seeing how the project evolves.

Check out the Jekyll docs for more info on how to create your own website with Jekyll.

Back in Slack, the webinar being advertised must have caught my eye because I’ve been attending ever since! After watching a few talks and scanning through subjects that had already been presented, I offered to give a talk about geospatial data analysis and was accepted!

Coordinating with the Data Umbrella team was a pleasure and I had great fun putting my presentation together. Check out the recording here.

Have a look at the Data Umbrella Website to learn more about past and future activities with this exceptional group!

Topics discussed were:

• What are the top Python-powered COVID-19 projects you’ve seen?
• What’s your favorite Python thing you’ve tinkered with during quarantine?
• What’s your favorite “hack” to help keep you productive during quarantine?
• What is your favorite Python package?
• What has been your experience with the Python community? Any particular successes or challenges?
• What do you think are the most interesting changes made to Python in the last few years?
• What do you love about Python?

It was a great discussion!

• I gave a tutorial on Spatial Analysis and Maps with Python. I had a great time putting the whole thing together, and it went well! I liked that I presented right at the beginning of the conference, so that I didn’t have to stress about it most of the time. Check out the recording here.

• After my tutorial a few of my students approached me and turned out to be Esri employees. I got a chance to talk to them about what their software can do as it relates to Jupyter Notebooks which is super exciting.

• I met the creator of Python, Guido van Rossum! He was attending the conference just like anybody else, and kindly took a picture with me. I also ended up sitting next to him at one of the plenary sessions. Note: I’m not short, he’s just really really tall.

• On more than one occasion I’d be sitting at breakfast/lunch or at a talk that was about to begin and someone would sit next to me who I recognized from the larger Python community. Everyone was really friendly and accessible, and I made some great new contacts.
• I had a little time to explore Cleveland, where I’d never been before.

• There was a 5k fun run event that got cancelled due to thunder and lightning. But a few of us went for a run that morning, sticking close to the venue.

After this post I ended up meeting her in person at PyCon 2018, and she was an absolute delight.

It’s no secret that the world of software development is a predominantly male industry. Women in this field can face unique challenges navigating the work environment, speaking up, and competing for positions and promotions. However, having a more diverse development team, including a more balanced gender dynamic, means adding new approaches and perspectives that can greatly expand creativity in the industry. Enter PyLadies - an international group that focuses on helping women learn the Python language and engage in the Python community. As an international organization, PyLadies has local chapters and organizers, but all groups share the same goals.

Some events organized by local PyLadies chapters are:

Hack Nights

Hack nights are unstructured meetings that typically take place at coffee shops in different areas of a city. Members bring their own work such as a tutorial, work to re-factor, or homework. This warm and inviting group will jump in and help with questions, or just provide a productive place to get work done.

Talk Nights

Talk nights typically involve several lightning talks followed by a main presenter. A talk night can be someone practicing their PyCon talk, sharing an interesting project, or teaching the group intermediate Python topics. Speakers are typically (but not always) female members of the local Python community with something interesting to share. PyLadies members are also encouraged to give lightning talks on their work. Although recruiters are discouraged from attending these events (the emphasis is on learning and support), networking can invariably lead to interesting job openings.

Local Python Conferences

PyLadies often attend Python conferences and have an information booth. Organizers wo-man the desk, provide a hub for fellow PyLadies, and are often among the presenters at the conferences. They may organize a social or networking event as a part of the conference to bring people together.

PyLadies supports an underrepresented group of developers by providing opportunities to meet like-minded people, get help, and share their own knowledge by helping others. Check out your local PyLadies chapter or start your own!

Back in November 2009, I got my professional start as a GIS intern at the AGRC. During my time at AGRC I was involved in large-scale projects such as the Utah Broadband Project, the 2012 Re-Precincting Analysis, the Utah Historic Buildings map database, and the creation of the previous edition of AGRC website (version 5, I’m told). In 2012 I was accepted into the Masters in GIS program at the University of Washington, left my job at the AGRC, and made the big move to Seattle. I’m very happy with where I am in my career, and I have my start at AGRC to thank for that!

In this post, I’d like to share the top 4 things I learned while working at AGRC that have stuck with me and helped me along my career path. I hope they serve as advice for someone starting out, or as reminders of ways you can enhance your existing career. Thanks for reading!

1. The Value of Coding

While working at the AGRC I was often encouraged to find a way to automate repetitive tasks. While it was outside of my comfort zone and what I’d learned in school, I began to look into Python programming. Thanks to the help and guidance of developers at AGRC, I was able to save time and make my work more accurate by using Python. Once I used Python to write a script that identified the level of precision for the TURN GPS network and displayed the results on the July 2012 Utah Broadband Project’s Map of the Month. So cool! Now I use Python as often as possible in both ArcGIS and QGIS.

2. Networking

Professional networking has been key to finding interesting career opportunities. In fact, my start at the AGRC was due to networking! I met Bert Granberg at a University of Utah GIS Day event, where he gave an interesting talk about the work he was doing at AGRC. After the session was over I introduced myself. A few months later, after applying for an intern opening, I was working there myself. Since then I have networked my way into a GIS teaching gig in Spain and have even given a talk on networking. You can do okay without networking, but I encourage everyone to get out there and talk to people in your field. It’s a great way to stay on top of the latest technology and hear about interesting opportunities.

3. Making a Pretty Map

Making great maps is harder than you’d think. It requires a mixture of art, understanding of data, and the message you’re trying to give to the viewer. The more you can get a happy mix of these things into your map, the more attractive and effective it will be. Some people just have a knack for these things, but in my experience only practice and an understanding of map making best practices yields improvement. At the AGRC I was given the incredibly fun job of making the Map of the Month of the Utah Broadband Project. Check out my favorite map!

4. Giving Talks

While working at the AGRC, I was lucky enough to attend the UGIC state GIS conference every year. During my third year of attendance I gave a talk on the verification process we were using at the time for the Utah Broadband Project. The process of preparing and giving the talk was exciting and stressful, and so rewarding. Presenting work to your peers is such a great way to organize your own thoughts about your work. I am currently an organizer for a meetup group called Maptime Seattle. We organize monthly workshops using free and open source GIS software. Planning workshops has been a great way for me to continue to build my presentation skills. I’ve even taught workshops on a subject that I had little to no experience in, just so that I could learn it myself! I can’t say this enough: there is no better way to organize your own thoughts or learn something better than by teaching it to other people. Get out there and try it!