Time: 5:30

Topic: Information as Art: The Essential Geography of the Salish Sea

Speaker: Jeff Clark, Spatial Vision Group

Location: This will be a hybrid in person and Zoom meeting. Members may attend in person at CBRE's downtown offices at 1021 West Hastings Suite 2500, or virtually through Zoom.

Meeting Link: 

Abstract: The Essential Geography of the Salish Sea, published in November 2022, is a 1:700,000 scale reference map featuring the tectonically active and glaciated terrain of North America’s Pacific Northwest. The region is a complex transboundary area which encompasses the inland coastal waterways of southern British Columbia and Washington State, the Cascades, the southern extent of the Pacific Ranges, and half the Olympic Peninsula which were formed by eight ice ages over a period of 2.5 million years.

A recent study from Oregon State University (2021) indicates a low geographic literacy among residents of the Salish Sea region. This important map represents the geographic essence of the Salish Sea bioregion and serves to build geographic literacy and cultural awareness for the complex transboundary area. It is the first general "essential geography" map, with the purpose to inspire interest in the beauty of the vast landscape, advance peoples' geographic literacy and awareness of the integrated environment that sustains them and give a better sense of place by including colonial and Indigenous place names (i.e., Coast Salish peoples) in an effort to promote cross-cultural understanding.

This presentation walks you through the design of The Essential Geography of the Salish Sea.

Bio: Jeff Clark, principal at Clark Geomatics and Spatial Vision Group, GIS consultant, geophysicist and accidental cartographer, has published several award-winning maps for hiking and walls.