August Monthly Membership Luncheon ft. Ashley Nepp

 Curious City:
In, Out, Above, Beyond Saint Paul. A Cultural Atlas
 

 What makes a place special? What does a place feel like? Sound like? Smell like? These are the kinds of questions examined in a cultural atlas. Learn about Saint Paul through the lens of this wonderful visual story, and realize how GIS and visuals help tell a story. We will be joined by Ashley Nepp, a cartographer and the Macalester College GIS Lab Instructor, who will guide us through the use of cartography as she tells us the story of Saint Paul.

 

Biography 
GIS Instructor and Lab Supervisor
GIS, cartography, geovisualization

Ashley Nepp is a cartographer and the Macalester College GIS Lab Instructor. She teaches the  introductory GIS labs and variety of advanced GIS courses, including Advanced Cartography and Geovisualization and Cultural Atlas Production. In April 2018, Ashley received the 2017-2018 Educator of the Year Award, which is a student-nominated Community Recognition Award at Macalester College. In Spring 2019, her Cultural Atlas Production course created “Curious City: In, Out, Above, Beyond Saint Paul,” a cultural atlas of Saint Paul, Minnesota. 

Ashley’s academic and professional interests include creative cartography, design, geovisualization, data-driven and narrative visualizations, and community engagement projects. Ashley’s cartographical career began as a production cartographer at Hedberg Maps, a Minneapolis-based cartography firm specializing in retail and custom cartography. She has contributed to a broad variety of map publications including a line of free pocket maps and a Twin Cities street atlas.

A lifelong Minnesotan, Ashley grew up in Duluth and Stillwater, and currently lives in the West Side neighborhood of Saint Paul. The daughter of two Macalester alumni, Ashley graduated from Macalester College herself with a degree in geography before earning her Masters Degree in GIS from the University of Minnesota.