MadGegoNews: The place for UW Madison Department of Geography updates
Fall 2026
Welcome back to MadGeogNews, where we're extremely excited to start the new academic year. In this newsletter, you'll:

  • Receive a fall welcome from Dr. Sarah A. Moore, Department Chair
  • See what some of our talented undergrads accomplished this summer
  • Follow graduate students to Germany, California, a keynote lecture, and even the Dane County Fair
  • Learn how the State Cartographer's Office is reaching community youths
  • Remember GISPP instructor Justin Cole
  • Catch up on the newest articles and awards from across the department
  • Prep for Fill the Hill, our featheriest fundraising event of the year
  • Watch our most recent Map Chat (and put the next one on your calendar)
  • See alumni updates (and submit your own!)
  • See the cutest badger ever
  • Write our new address in your address book

Transitions & Celebrations: A Letter from the Department Chair
Greetings from the Computer Sciences building! We moved into our temporary—or ‘swing’—space here over the summer. It’s no Science Hall. But we are adjusting, thanks in no small part to the hard work of our Department Administrator, Jacqueline Wild, and our Administrative Assistant, Mariah Gorman. Planning for the renovation of Science Hall will be completed this semester and we are on track to return in 2029.

Read more from Dr. Moore about what we're looking forward to this year.
Sarah Moore poses in front of a map
Department Chair Dr. Sarah A. Moore

Undergrads Share Summer Internship Experiences
Sean Cervenka and Molly Anderson headshots
Sean Cervenka and Molly Anderson
Every summer, geography undergrads fan out across the city (and the world!) to share their time and talents as interns.

We asked two undergrads how this summer's experiences helped them prepare for their future careers.

Read what Molly Anderson, junior, and Sean Cervenka, senior, had to say!

Summer Adventures with Grad Students
Geography can happen anywhere. We caught up with geographers who had eventful summers in four very different places.
Three students sit behind a fabric map
A group of students poses for the camera at a social event
A group of children look at a table full of LEGO maps
Natalie Correa, PhD student, mapped her way across Hamburg in a critical cartography school. Explore her experience across the pond.
GISPP master's degree student Eugenie Huang joined Esri UC as Student Assistant, one of just 60 from around the world. Read how it went!  
PhD student Atlas Guo brought his LEGO maps to several spaces across the community. See how those maps contribute to the Wisconsin Idea.
Gareth Baldrica-Franklin, PhD student, gave the keynote address at State of the Map US, held in Madison. Watch his talk about mapping Teejop!

Cartography in the Community

A group of students stands around a tree
PTL students and mentors collecting field data on the UW-Madison campus
The State Cartographer's Office is always looking for ways to put the Wisconsin Idea into action.

This summer, they collaborated with the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission (CARPC) and other partners to host GIS workshops for two local youth employment groups, Powerful Teen Leaders (PTL) and Maydm.

Learn about how SCO shared the principles of cartography, GIS, and field data gathering with students from across Madison.

Remembering Justin Cole (1982–2026)
We mourn the loss of Justin Cole, a Teaching Faculty member in the Geography Department from 2018 to 2025. Justin passed away on September 15 after a valiant battle with an aggressive cancer. Justin helped advance GISPP's mission of training geospatial professionals and positioning them for success in a rapidly evolving field. He taught approximately six courses per year, spanning GIS, spatial databases, cartography, and the final practicum course. He will be greatly missed.

Justin's passion for using GIS and maps to make the world a better place was instilled in the many students who were fortunate enough to learn from him. If you learned from Justin, please consider sharing a story on his obituary. 
A smiling man stands next to a large gray relief map
Justin Cole proudly displays one of his projects at Esri UC

Geographers in the News
  • On Wisconsin alumni magazine published an overview of the Robinson Map Library's aerial photo collection
  • Professor Ian Baird received a Kellett Mid-Career Award, which acknowledges those who have made key research contributions in their field
  • PhD student Gabriel Shapiro published his first peer-reviewed article—a research article about the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line in Energy Research & Social Science
  • Shapiro also co-wrote an op-ed about rising electricity costs in the Cap Times
  • PhD student Vignesh Ramachandran dove into the data center debate in a co-written piece in Tech Policy Press
  • Eric Giese, PhD student, received a URS Exceptional Mentor Award for the 2025-2026 academic year
  • Atlas Guo, PhD student, receive multiple awards for his maps, including Best Overall Map in the State of the Map US 2026 Narrative Map Competition and a Bronze Medal in SND47 Creative Competition by Society for News Design

Make a Note: Fill the Hill is on October 1–2
So many feathers. So much pink. You might think this flamingo-fest is just for ornithologists, but it's for geographers too!

On October 1–2, we'll ask for your support in this yearly fundraiser. Thank you in advance for your consideration in these dynamic times.

Giving will begin at 5 p.m. on Thursday, October 1.

Map Chat Brings Great Talks to Campus

Lou Ginart stands at a lecture podium; in the background, slides show moments from her career
Lou Ginart gives great advice during her Map Chat
On September 16, freelance geospatial analyst and cartographer Lou Ginart helped kick off this year's Map Chat series in style by sharing insights from her career so far. If you missed it, watch it on YouTube!

Map Chat is an informal speaker series supported by GISPP. Chats are hybrid, free, and open to all. Next up: On October 26 @ 3.p.m. Central, Ester Scheck from TU Wien will talk about critical data literacy and its relationship with cartography.

Alumni Updates
Grant Haxton, BA'19, is a captain in the U.S. Army deployed as the intelligence advisor to a battalion commander. His first deployment was to the 2021 Kabul airlift as an infantry lieutenant with the 82nd Airborne Division.

Do you have an update? We'd love to hear from you! Fill out our Alumni Updates form with whatever information you'd like to share.

Geography Department (Finally) Gets a Badgerdoodle
In 2024, a UW student named Grace Edwards started creating drawings that she named "badgerdoodles." Grace graduated in 2025, but luckily for us, she kept drawing. And that's why we can share this adorable Geography badger with you.

See more of Grace's work on Instagram or her website.

We Moved!

In summer 2026, the Geography Department is moved out of Science Hall in preparation for the building’s upcoming renovations.

Geography faculty, staff, and graduate student offices, including the Robinson Map Library, Cartography Lab, and State Cartographer’s Office, are now located in the Computer Sciences building at 1210 W. Dayton St on the UW–Madison Campus. We anticipate staying here for the next 3 years.

The Earth System Geography labs are now located in the Medical Sciences Center at 1300 University Avenue.
The entrance to a building
Computer Sciences building, 1210 W Dayton. [Photo by Brian Huynh / UW–Madison]
Thank you for reading this newsletter. As always, please follow the department on social media for additional updates. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
 
Instagram icon with Geog link LinkedIn icon with Geog link
UW-Madison Department of Geography
 
 
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN–MADISON
1210 W Dayton Street  |  Madison, WI 53706
Privacy Policy  |  Unsubscribe  |  Manage Preferences