University cartographers are hoping students will soon think of Yellowstone National Park as more than a family trip in the station wagon to see the Old Faithful Geyser.
The InfoGraphics Lab is helping create an atlas for the Yellowstone National Park region, and it will be the first comprehensive atlas of any national park. The book, which will come out in 2010, will be similar to the 320-page Atlas of Oregon made in 2001, also headed by the InfoGraphics Lab. The Yellowstone atlas will feature information gathered by thousands of Yellowstone experts.
The atlas creators say the book is about telling the stories of the people of Yellowstone and will include a wide array of information, including wildlife, geology, tourism and geothermal and volcanic activity.
“One of the things that I find exciting about this project is that we get to learn about these really amazing places and find out about all this interesting work going on,” said Jim Meacham, director of the InfoGraphics Lab.
Meacham and geography professor Andrew Marcus brainstormed the idea in 2002, and the project grew from a class project into a comprehensive atlas. Their original plan was to create a 48-page atlas – something park visitors could carry around in the car.
“It took on a life of its own,” Meacham said. “Every time we present what we’ve done and our ideas, people really respond. They get excited, and it grows.”
The atlas is now planned to be about 300 pages, and researchers say they have been working on the project out of their desire to archive the park’s history and detail current issues, including fire management.
“For me it comes out of a deep love for Yellowstone,” Marcus said. “It’s a place I feel truly bonded to on some fundamental level. To realize no one has brought together the remarkable wealth of scholarship and studies speaks of spectacular opportunity to describe this place to the world at large.”
Marcus said he couldn’t pinpoint exactly how many experts or how many hours have been put into the project so far.
“The number of experts contributing data is mind boggling,” he said.
The University team is working with researchers throughout the country, including scholars at the University of Wyoming and Montana State University. In the InfoGraphics Lab, four people are working on the project – mainly on the design aspect.
Cartographer Brook Eastman, a 2007 University graduate, is working on a page detailing bison movement. She said the project is challenging.
“There are so many different aspects,” she said, adding she is trying to make the pages she’s working on look appealing and readable.
Creators of the atlas anticipate that different audiences will read it, including tourists and scientists.
“The mission is to provide an authoritative reference volume that can be used by scholars and the public alike,” Marcus said. “That’s tricky because it means it has very dense science data, but it has to be portrayed so that everyone can access it.”
The atlas will also include an extensive bibliography for those who want to learn more about the region, Meacham said.
The publisher is already looking into publishing a Japanese translation, Marcus said, adding that broad audiences are interested in the park and region.
Researchers are interested in reaching those audiences, he said.
“The degree of concern about the future of Yellowstone and how it’s portrayed to the world at large brings out deep passion,” Marcus said. “As we talked to folks about this book, everyone wants to be part of it. If they aren’t, they feel as if their story hasn’t been told.”
The University is searching for donors to fund the project.
“There really are no funding mechanisms that are set up for atlases,” Marcus said. “If you go to the National Science Foundation, they don’t have an atlas division.”
The University and the Yellowstone Park Foundation have provided money to start the project, but the College of Arts and Sciences is hoping to solicit more donations, which will be managed by the University of Oregon Foundation.
Those interested in donating money to the project can contact Jane Gary at [email protected].
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