Special Category Award: AGIC 30

Winner - Arizona in 30 Layers of Watercolor Paint, submitted by Margaret Tueller, WSP

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of AGIC, I have hand-painted a physical map of Arizona using 30 layers of watercolor paint. The translucent nature of watercolor allows to an artist to build depth with each layer that is added. In this map, the 30 layers combine to form a rich and vibrant physical map of Arizona that is just as much an art piece as it is a map. 

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Printed Maps - Best Analytical 

Winner - Detour Ahead: Visualizing Flood-Related Impacts of Underinvestment in Tribal Roadway Networks of Northeastern Arizona, submitted by Michael Huff, Northern Arizona Council of Governments

This map intends to highlight a pervasive issue for the tribal areas of northeastern Arizona; the roadway network relies heavily upon dirt and gravel surfaces for both local roads and regional connections. Paired with the extreme seasonal weather conditions of northern Arizona, this roadway network experiences poor resilience and disproportionate damage from heavy rains, flash flooding, snow, and ice. This results in greater risks to residents, travelers, school buses, and emergency response; roads are often washed out or impassable due to weather, causing schools not to run bus routes (resulting in forced absenteeism for students), emergency response to take longer, and individuals to face barriers to getting to and from work, school, and other essential locations. By showing this issue spatially, I hope to spark data-driven discussion about mitigation of these conditions through strategic prioritization of and investment in countermeasures to improve resilience, safety, and mobility. 

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Printed Maps - Best Cartography

Winner - Understanding North American Desert Climate, submitted by Garrett Raubinger, Maricopa County Assessor’s Office

This map charts out EPA Level 3 ecoregions that are considered deserts in North America. Furthermore, decades of climate data from NOAA have been clipped and measured for each desert, the data was then used to generate Walter-Leith Climate Summary Diagrams which are a double-y axis chart that normalizes precipitation and temperature to identify months of general humidity or aridity.

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Best Story Map

Winner - Caught in the Middle: A river between two dams and the future of the Grand Canyon, submitted by Anna Riling, Four Corners Mapping and GIS

This year, the Colorado River earned the unenviable title of "Most Endangered River" on American Rivers' annual report. In the face of serious risk from climate change and outdated water management, the Bureau of Reclamation is weighing next steps into an uncertain future. Actions taken to manage the Colorado River's water will directly impact the Grand Canyon, where flows have already been reduced and a scenario of no water flowing past Glen Canyon Dam looms near. To bring the story of the Grand Canyon and its river to the fore, in partnership with American Rivers, Environmental Defense Fund, and Water for Arizona Coalition, Four Corners Mapping and GIS produced the Story Map, "Caught in the Middle: A river between two dams and the future of the Grand Canyon". Take a tour through the Grand Canyon and learn how the complexities of the Colorado River crisis impact the Grand Canyon and its surrounding communities and ecosystems through words, images, interactive media, and short videos.

This Story Map was produced by Four Corners Mapping and GIS in partnership with American Rivers, Environmental Defense Fund, and Water for Arizona Coalition. Amy Martin Photography is responsible for many of the excellent photographs throughout the piece. Stephen Eginoire also provided stunning photographs of Grand Canyon caves. Artwork was contributed by Joe Mruk of Red Buffalo Illustration. Indigenous perspectives of the Grand Canyon were told first-hand by tribal members with cultural, spiritual, and historical roots in the Canyon. Graphs make use of Bureau of Reclamation storage and elevation metrics for Lakes Mead and Powell and flow and temperature data for the Colorado River; the US Environmental Protection Agency “Trends in April Snowpack” dataset; and US Geological Survey (USGS) hydrograph data. The USGS Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center also provided the imagery behind the compelling swipe and time lapse elements of the High Flow Experiments on the Colorado River.

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Best Application

Winner - Heat Relief Network, submitted by Nicole Funicello, Maricopa Association of Governments

This application is used to help people locate heat relief from May to September in Maricopa County. The Heat Relief Network is made up of municipalities, nonprofit organizations, faith-based community, and businesses and is kept up to date throughout the summer. This is a custom JavaScript application built in-house by Jack Fairfield. Survey123 is used to gather the Heat Relief Network partner applications. The feature service is maintained and updated through portal on a hosted ArcGIS Server.

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Best Student Project: College 

Winner - NLCOG GIS Data Portal, submitted by Kevin Reeves, Northwest Louisiana Council of Governments

This ArcGIS Hub site is a repository of geospatial data, maps, and images has been created and distributed by NLCOG and its member governmental agencies. All data on this site is taken from the regional GIS (ReGIS) database housed at the NW LA Council of Governments. This HUB site provides access to GIS datasets and web maps that can be downloaded, queried, and/or printed out. This site was created to give the public easy access to GIS data from NLCOG and its member agencies. In addition to datasets and web maps, the site includes a story map of NLCOG, a survey about the quality of life in Shreveport LA, various videos about GIS, along with affiliate links to member agencies.

This HUB site was my GIST 909 capstone project for the Spring 2023 semester.

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Best Student Project: K-12 

Winner - Parking Lots Sparking Lots of Issues in Arizona, submitted by Joey Gamero and Ian White, Corona Del Sol High School

This story map discusses and elaborates the rising issue of an over abundance of parking lots in the Phoenix-metro area, and Arizona as a whole. As well as diving in depth to the issue itself, it lists and explains multiple solutions/alternatives.

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