Needing to correctly align one set of data with another is a common task in many geospatial analyses. One example of this is snapping a set of locations to a linear network. This is usually an essential step in network analyses because you need to know the exact location of…

Geopandas makes it pretty easy to work with geospatial data in Python. One of its most powerful features is that it allows you to work with geospatial data using a similar approach to working with row-level data in Pandas, which is one of the fundamental data science libraries in Python…

Near the end of 2017, I released the first version of the West Coast Estuaries Explorer. Working with partners with the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and Pacific Marine and Estuarine Fish Habitat Partnership (PMEP), and Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC), and using data…

We recently started using Mapbox GL JS in our frontend mapping and data visualization projects. It has proven to be a very powerful map engine, and we have appreciated how much it has allowed us to introduce some of the newer mapping technologies such as vector tiles to our stack. …

I’ve been struggling with a situation at work where I am being asked to help define how much effort is required to meet a major business goal. The problem is that I’m not able to gain enough clarity around that goal to be able to develop a mental model of…

“Fareless” read the sign on the side of the bus as it passed by me this morning. Just think about how much more delightful it would be with a slight rearrangement: “Fearless.” Imagine this as the start of your day. “Put your fears [not fares] in the machine as you…

We recently had the opportunity to get our software development team together with our conservation planning and assessment team. The software team creates web applications to empower users to share, collaborate, and interpret geospatial data. The conservation planning team is based out of San Diego, and is rarely in the…

A parable on leadership — In a high mountain was a stream that ran past many rocks and through many channels. One of these rocks, and one of these channels each considered themselves great leaders. For indeed, both influenced the course of the stream as it flowed down the mountain. “Bring everything to me,” said…

Like many areas, the Southeast is a region where collaboration, consensus, and engagement are critical to success. Like our first story, this one is about how to tell the story of a place through mapping and data visualization. This story is about enabling our heroes, the South Atlantic Landscape Conservation…