Day 4: UO InfoGraphics Lab, Illahe Vineyards, and Manzanita
University of Oregon and the InfoGraphics Lab
We all woke up early Tuesday, September 30 in Eugene, Oregon and headed over to the University of Oregon campus at 8:30 in the morning. There was about an hour before our first meeting of the day; this gave us the opportunity to explore the campus and be a Duck for a day (or at least a few hours). At 9:45 the class gathered around Condon Hall, and Emily C gave a presentation on the University of Oregon, its geography program, its status as one the premier cartography universities in the world, and its InfoGraphics Lab. She explained briefly some of the work that the InfoGraphics Lab has produced, including the very first National Park atlas, the Atlas of Yellowstone.
At 10 o'clock we filed into the InfoGraphics Lab and were promptly greeted by Jim Meacham, Director of the lab, Ken Kato, Associate Director of the lab and Campus GIS Coordinator, and Alethea Steingisser, Cartographic Project Manager. Jim began by introducing the lab and describing some of the work that has been produced there. He explained how the Atlas of Yellowstone took around ten years to complete and the hute interdisciplinary process involving experts in many fields to develop it. He then described the process of making an atlas by showing us an ongoing project. Jim and several other members of the lab are currently working on creating an Atlas of Wildlife Migration. This idea was partially sparked by the recent discovery of mule deer migration in Wyoming. It was amazing to see the vast amount of knowledge from the many scientists in different fields required to build even one page of the atlas.
Ken Kato then took over and began showing us the different online mapping and web GIS applications the InfoGraphics Lab is operating. The University of Oregon has a vast campus GIS and is heavily involved in mobile mapping. The campus GIS is constantly being updated to reflect even the smallest changes on campus in order to help aid in emergency response and planning on the campus. Some of the more impressive work Ken presented involved how the campus GIS is fully available on a mobile app, complete with routing to almost any location on campus. This app can deliver room level mapping and even won an award from ESRI for the Best Mobile GIS App. At this point Tim split off from the group to meet with a professor to discuss possible graduate school opportunities at the university for him.
Illahe Vineyards
After the great presentations at the InfoGraphics Lab, we piled into the vans and drove out to Illahe Vineyards. Upon arriving at 1:30, we were greeted by Lowell Ford, the owner of Illahe vineyards and his dog Logan. He proceeded to show us around the property and describe the various aspects of wine making. Something interesting he described is how all the grapes are planted on slopes that face the south to maximize the amount of sun received. The two Emilys, who were researching wine in Oregon, were full of questions for Lowell. The tour ended in the grape fermentation room where Miles was given the opportunity to stand on the fermenting bins and mix the grapes to aerate them. At the end of the tour, Hannah gave a presentation on wines in Oregon and covered many facts that helped reinforce what Lowell had explained during the tour. This ended, of course, with a wine tasting where everybody got to show off their fancy faces.
The Pacific Coast
At this point we all piled into the vans and headed out to Manzanita, a small town on the Pacific Coast. The vans arrived just in time to see the sunset, and everybody ran out onto the beach. Some even ran into the water fully clothed to truly experience a West Coast sunset. The night ended with a family dinner of homemade guacos (tacos completely drowned in guacamole) and a daily debriefing of the day’s events.
Special thanks to Dr. Jim Meachem, Dr. Ken Kato, Alethea Steingisser, and Lowell and Brad Ford.
University of Oregon and the InfoGraphics Lab
We all woke up early Tuesday, September 30 in Eugene, Oregon and headed over to the University of Oregon campus at 8:30 in the morning. There was about an hour before our first meeting of the day; this gave us the opportunity to explore the campus and be a Duck for a day (or at least a few hours). At 9:45 the class gathered around Condon Hall, and Emily C gave a presentation on the University of Oregon, its geography program, its status as one the premier cartography universities in the world, and its InfoGraphics Lab. She explained briefly some of the work that the InfoGraphics Lab has produced, including the very first National Park atlas, the Atlas of Yellowstone.
At 10 o'clock we filed into the InfoGraphics Lab and were promptly greeted by Jim Meacham, Director of the lab, Ken Kato, Associate Director of the lab and Campus GIS Coordinator, and Alethea Steingisser, Cartographic Project Manager. Jim began by introducing the lab and describing some of the work that has been produced there. He explained how the Atlas of Yellowstone took around ten years to complete and the hute interdisciplinary process involving experts in many fields to develop it. He then described the process of making an atlas by showing us an ongoing project. Jim and several other members of the lab are currently working on creating an Atlas of Wildlife Migration. This idea was partially sparked by the recent discovery of mule deer migration in Wyoming. It was amazing to see the vast amount of knowledge from the many scientists in different fields required to build even one page of the atlas.
Ken Kato then took over and began showing us the different online mapping and web GIS applications the InfoGraphics Lab is operating. The University of Oregon has a vast campus GIS and is heavily involved in mobile mapping. The campus GIS is constantly being updated to reflect even the smallest changes on campus in order to help aid in emergency response and planning on the campus. Some of the more impressive work Ken presented involved how the campus GIS is fully available on a mobile app, complete with routing to almost any location on campus. This app can deliver room level mapping and even won an award from ESRI for the Best Mobile GIS App. At this point Tim split off from the group to meet with a professor to discuss possible graduate school opportunities at the university for him.
Illahe Vineyards
After the great presentations at the InfoGraphics Lab, we piled into the vans and drove out to Illahe Vineyards. Upon arriving at 1:30, we were greeted by Lowell Ford, the owner of Illahe vineyards and his dog Logan. He proceeded to show us around the property and describe the various aspects of wine making. Something interesting he described is how all the grapes are planted on slopes that face the south to maximize the amount of sun received. The two Emilys, who were researching wine in Oregon, were full of questions for Lowell. The tour ended in the grape fermentation room where Miles was given the opportunity to stand on the fermenting bins and mix the grapes to aerate them. At the end of the tour, Hannah gave a presentation on wines in Oregon and covered many facts that helped reinforce what Lowell had explained during the tour. This ended, of course, with a wine tasting where everybody got to show off their fancy faces.
The Pacific Coast
At this point we all piled into the vans and headed out to Manzanita, a small town on the Pacific Coast. The vans arrived just in time to see the sunset, and everybody ran out onto the beach. Some even ran into the water fully clothed to truly experience a West Coast sunset. The night ended with a family dinner of homemade guacos (tacos completely drowned in guacamole) and a daily debriefing of the day’s events.
Special thanks to Dr. Jim Meachem, Dr. Ken Kato, Alethea Steingisser, and Lowell and Brad Ford.