Celebrating 25 Years of GIS Day | November 2024
This year marks the 25th anniversary of GIS Day. In celebration, this year’s theme — Mapping Minds, Shaping the World: 25 Years of GIS Excellence — reflects the profound impact of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) on how we perceive, understand, and shape our planet.
Explore the Special GIS Day 2024 Issue of StoryScape to register or find an event near you. Browse promotional and learning resources. And count down to GIS Day — November 20, 2024 — with 20 Esri employees. To celebrate geography and the GIS community, each of the 20 employees highlights an inspirational map, application, or story. Explore the picks and share them with your mappy friends.
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GIS Day — November 20, 2024 — is a day dedicated to showing, teaching, and inspiring others. Join the celebration and inspire a new generation to address our greatest challenges and discover data-driven solutions by using a geographic approach and employing GIS tools.
Find an event — or host your own.
On November 18, 1999, Jack Dangermond, Dr. Roger Tomlinson, and a few dozen students celebrated the first GIS Day at Murch Elementary School in Washington, D.C. Twenty-five years later, the annual GIS Day celebration continues with thousands of events worldwide. Explore the map to find GIS Day events near you.
Ready to host your own event? Head on over to gisday.com and register now.
2024 GIS Day Registration Form_public
Meet the people behind the maps.
"I pushed a button to make a dot density map...I'm looking at this model of the world coming to life before my eyes, and I thought, this is magical." —John Nelson, Esri
What was your "aha" moment? What sparked your passion for geography and GIS? In this video, Esri employees — from cartographers to product engineers — share the inspiration behind their impactful work.

Get inspired by a geographic approach...
...to your golf game, a woodworking project, or a virtual museum exhibit.
Discover fun and innovative uses of GIS from six storytellers. Hear, in their own words, what inspired them to conjure up their unusual applications and why outside-the-box approaches are important to the field of geography.
Celebrate GIS Day in style.
You've put your GIS Day event on the map! Now make it spatial with free learning resources and promotional materials. Get started with the GIS Day 2024 story. Then browse the media kit for posters, stickers, templates, social media assets, and more.

Countdown to GIS Day
Have you recently seen a beautiful or innovative map, story, or app and thought — I wish I’d thought of that? We asked 20 Esri employees that question. And they delivered! Enjoy their answers in a countdown to GIS Day that highlights the power of GIS for positive change.
Explore the picks and share them on social — with #GISDay2024. Plus follow the daily countdown on Esri's social media channels and @GISDay X and Facebook.

Dawn Wright
Chief Scientist
My inspiration: 3D mapping of ocean variables on the Portuguese coast by Telmo Dias, a student at Nova University Information Management School, in collaboration with the Portuguese Instituto Hidrográfico (Institute of Hydrography)
As a co-leader of the open Ecological Marine Units 3D “digital ocean” for understanding our ocean and creating solutions for its best use and protection, this story shows one of the best customizations for a small region that I’ve ever seen. In a way, it’s exactly as we had originally intended for the application.

John Nelson
Cartography and UX, ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World team
My inspiration: Fram expedition by Markus Brustad
Markus uses many techniques to create a period-specific feel for a historical theme, including subtle coastal fades and waterlines, land features that interrupt the neatline, all while representing the expedition progress clearly.

Heather Smith
Principal GIS Content Engineer, Tutorials team
My inspiration: The valley of the moon by Shira Ellenson, Dewberry
I love this map for a lot of reasons. Its controlled color palette, its curved labels, its simplicity and clarity. But the thing I love most about this map is how it captures my imagination. Looking at it, I feel like I can imagine myself walking through these canyons, looking up at the high rocks. I can feel their sandstone texture and the dry heat on my face. I feel like I'm there. (Watch Heather's video about the map.)

Dr. Este Geraghty
Chief Medical Officer
My inspiration: Cancer clinical trial locator by Amanda Stanko, Esri
Clinical trials offer hope to those facing critical illness, providing a path to new treatments and better outcomes. This GIS-based prototype app inspires me with its simplicity, integrating data, filters, and maps to make finding trials easier and more accessible.

Owen Evans
Lead Product Engineer, StoryMaps team
My inspiration: Geography, class, and fate: Passengers on the Titanic by the StoryMaps team...a long time ago
Let’s all hop in a time machine! “Geography, class, and fate: Passengers on the Titanic” is a custom story created by the original StoryMaps team way back in 2012. It is the first story map I remember seeing, and it immediately hooked me on the concept of map-based storytelling. The simple act of mapping some information from a Wikipedia article and adding a little interactivity brought this historical event to life in a way that astounded me!

Andria Olson
Senior Content Specialist, StoryMaps team
My inspiration: Community-based wildlife crime prevention case study: A place-based crime script of professional hunting around Pù Mát National Park, Vietnam by Elle J. Xu, Meredith L Gore, and Judith Rakowski, University of Maryland; Laure Joanny, Luan Van Nguyen, and Ha.Anh Nguyen, Flora & Fauna; and James Slade and Andrew Tilker, ReWild
Perhaps it’s just my affinity for crime documentaries, but I was fascinated by this submission to our 2023 ArcGIS StoryMaps competition. I found their method of presenting a crime script and then going into the geography of wildlife crime intriguing, and their use of maps, map actions, and images was highly effective in making the topic understandable.

Warren Davison
Senior Content Specialist, StoryMaps team
My inspiration: How Widespread Was Canada’s Historic 2023 Wildfire Season? by Peter Atwood on maps.com
Creating a map to communicate phenomena is one thing, but artfully animating a map and choreographing the cartography is a whole other task. Peter's animation of the 2023 Canadian wildfire season is stunning. Not only does it visualize the sheer quantity and scale of the fires and the far-reaching smoke, but it achieves this with beautifully rendered visuals that trigger a visceral response. I can't help but feel like the map itself is on fire. Crafting a map that connects with and evokes a reaction from the audience is a vital skill in communicating and sharing the work we do with GIS.

Ashley Du
Senior Content Specialist, StoryMaps team
My inspiration: Living territories by Amazon Conservation Team
This story resonated with me because it highlights the importance of sharing stories about Indigenous communities around the world. The use of interactive maps and custom graphics really brings it to life, in addition to providing important information about the groups working daily to protect sensitive areas throughout Colombia.

Joseph Kerski
Education Manager, Education team
My inspiration: How walkable is your community? by Joseph Kerski, Esri
This resource shows the power of web GIS by connecting four components: A field survey, a web map, a dashboard, and a story map. I have used it from middle school to university levels, showing viewers that they can use the same idea to map and analyze trees, water quality, noise, historical homes, weather, and many other phenomena.

Jess Altamira
Senior Solution Engineer, GeoExperience Center
My inspiration: Digging up dinosaurs by Warren Davison, Esri
What really stood out to me was the awesome graphics and animation in the story. This story seamlessly blends adventure and science and deepens my love for dinosaurs. It kept me hooked from start to finish.

Lisa Berry
Senior GIS Engineer and Living Atlas Evangelist, ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World team
My inspiration: Wildfire aware by Emily Meriam, Esri
This map is a beautiful representation of a terrifying topic. Emily has designed a multi-scale experience with a fully customized basemap that provides the right contextual elements at the right scale. As you zoom into the map, you gain additional information to help you view terrain, forests, rivers, fire outlines, and factors that are critical for understanding the impact and contributing elements related to wildfires. The app itself was designed by multiple Living Atlas team members, and it portrays key metrics related to each wildfire, such as reported acres, containment, weather, population, ecosystems, and more.

Joshua Stevens
Cartographic Editor of Maps.com and Senior Digital Content Strategist, Digital Experience team
My inspiration: Spike mapping by Warren Davison, Esri
What I love so much about Warren’s map is that, as in so much of his work, it has many layers of utility. It is a fantastic map in and of itself. But Warren goes on to show readers exactly how this map was made, and how others can apply these same techniques to their maps, down to the Arcade expressions that power them. Lots of people make great maps.
Warren is also in the habit of creating great cartographers. This map exemplifies his dedication to well-designed maps and the people who make them.

Kristi Licera
Manager of Web Writing, Content Marketing team
My inspiration: Bird migration explorer by National Audubon Society
Wonder. That is what this map stirs in me. Vivid illustrations capture the nostalgia of classic encyclopedia. Modern data visualizations illuminate the paths of more than 450 avian species that grace our skies.
It reminds us to stop. Listen. Look up.

Marcus Seepersad
Marketing Automation Specialist, Digital Experience team
My inspiration: Have money, will travel by Esri's StoryMaps Team
This story is cool because it highlights the correlation between income and travel, showing how wealth enables global exploration. Travel enriches life experiences and fosters respect for different cultures, deepening one’s reverence for diversity through meaningful interactions.

Raynah Kamau
Lead, GeoEquity Cross-Sector Practice
My inspiration: She did that! by Black Girls MAPP
This story is a powerful example of how GIS can be a tool for social empowerment, specifically highlighting the critical role of Black women in the geospatial field. I deeply resonate with its mission to elevate and celebrate the contributions of Black women in GIS. This story not only tells their stories but also underscores the importance of representation, mentorship, and leadership within the industry. By combining personal narratives with actionable insights, it reflects our shared vision of creating spaces where Black women can thrive in tech, fostering diversity and inclusion in a traditionally underrepresented field.

Angelique Samaro
Associate Product Marketing Manager, Product Management team
My inspiration: ArcGIS Monitor by the Monitor Development Team
ArcGIS Monitor is a great tool for anyone using ArcGIS Enterprise.
It monitors your system's health, performance, and usage, and proactively identifies possible issues. This means less system downtime, improved efficiency, and big savings, both in time and in money. That's why I love ArcGIS Monitor...Check out our success stories to see how Monitor is making an impact across different industries. (Watch Angelique's video about ArcGIS Monitor.)

Lauren Bennett
Product Engineering Director, Spatial Analysis and Data Science team
My inspiration: Library deserts by Esri's StoryMaps team
I love this story because it's a great example of using geography, GIS, and storytelling to help improve lives and advocate for change. So many of the big challenges that our communities face have a spatial component; using maps to help tell stories and compel people to act can be particularly effective. Libraries and the resources that they provide, from knowledge to a safe place to hang out after school, are absolutely crucial to our communities and our society. Writing about it, showing charts and tables, and even interviewing people, can be effective communication tactics, but there is something about a map that can really speak to people in a way that few other mediums can.

Jason Sawle
Global Industry Manager for Schools
My inspiration: Seafloor crustal age in MapMaker by National Geographic Education and Esri
The Sea Floor Crustal Age map can help students understand the dynamic processes that shape the Earth.
In MapMaker, students can explore the map and click on different locations to see the different geologic ages of the sea floor. What pattern do they see? What processes could they describe to explain this? It's a great tool for critical thinking and a way to help immerse students in the subject matter.

Lauren Tierney
Senior Product Manager of Mapping and Cartography, Product Management team
My inspiration: Chesapeake Bay National Recreation Area: Establishing a new national park unit by Amy Tian, National Parks Conservation Association
I love Amy's map of the Chesapeake Bay! The combination of illustrations and inset maps really bring this project to life and draws the viewer in to learn more about the Chesapeake Bay. The color palette across the maps and illustrations ties the whole piece together in a beautiful way. Cartography is not just about maps (infographics and illustrations are important too!) and this project really drives that home. Living so close to the Chesapeake Bay this map makes me want to get out and explore the ecological, historical, and cultural landscape of the region.

Jack Dangermond
President
My inspiration: Mapping the U.S. in near real time by Esri's StoryMaps and Living Atlas teams
Maps are the language of geography and understanding. They invite collaboration and action. Real-time web maps are rapidly becoming an exciting language for communicating everything at many scales, informing not only citizens but also policy-makers and decision-makers.
This story presents examples of real-time geography, and suggests what real-time awareness about everything will be like in the future, creating better social cognition and consensus. Geography will increasingly support everyone: policy-makers like ambassadors and government leaders, organizational administrators, and the general public. This rapidly emerging medium will enable spatial literacy, with maps and story maps fueling Geo-news and Geo-journalism.
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