Biography

Humboldt State University United States Geological Survey Jet Propulsion Laboratory's

My name is Garret Denise. I am a Southern California native, born and raised in Santa Clarita a city located about an hour north of Los Angeles. I am currently a graduate from Humboldt State University. I have a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science with a focus in Geospatial Analysis. I hope to use this degree towards any kind of Natural Resource or City Planning application. I have always had a deep love of maps and when I was given a chance to do what I love I couldn't have been happier.

I have always had maps in my life. Before there were Garmins, Tom Toms, and voice activated directions from your phone, there were maps. I was always the one assigned to be the navigator on any road trip, mainly because I loved it so much, and also because I found it so fascinating, all the different possibilities that maps could provide. That being said, maps have always played a sub-concious role in my life and it was not until I attended Humboldt State University that I was allowed the oppurtunity to do what truly made me happy. I hope to continue my cartogarphic journey through life and continually learn new things that help to enhance my mapping skills and make me a better cartographer overall.

My Philosophy

If I had to describe cartography with one word I would say visualization. The ability to describe to someone a phenomena in words and then, show them that same phenomena in visual format is so powerful. There's the saying that say a picture says a thousand words, I say, a map says a million. The amount of information that can be placed into a map is almost infinite. With that being said cartographers should help visualize the information from both our minds and from the real world and display it in a manner that is readible and understandable. Whether you are displaying wildlife movements across a landscape, or creating a brand new world of your own creation, maps should allow the viewer to want to look, and learn more about what they are seeing. Maps should take the viewer on a journey through every little detail helping them understand the map through simplicity and clarity, so when they walk away they fully understand the experience of whatever map they have just witnessed.