Caitlin Dempsey

Caitlin Dempsey is a geographer, writer, and founder and editor of Geography Realm. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Geography from UCLA and a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from San José State University.

For more than two decades, she has written about geography, maps, geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, satellite imagery, and environmental science. Her work focuses on making geography accessible to a broad audience through articles, tutorials, and educational resources.

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Geography of Google Search

Caitlin Dempsey

Explore Adventure analyzes where and when people in different countries search for locations in other countries.

ZIP Code boundaries overlayed with the City of Flint's boundary. Map: Richard Casey Sadler.

How the ‘Quirky Geography’ of ZIP Codes Obscured Flint’s Lead Problem

Caitlin Dempsey

Richard Casey Sadler, an assistant professor at Michigan State University discusses how the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services' reliance on using ZIP Code level data obscured the link between Flint residents and lead exposure.

Online Atlas Tracks Ecologically Troubled Areas of the World

Caitlin Dempsey

A new atlas produced by Richard Weller from the University of Pennsylvania tracks how urban sprawl and human activities are endangering bioregions on Earth.

Landsat 8 captured this satellite image of Progreso Pier in 2014. Image: NASA.

World’s Longest Piers

Caitlin Dempsey

Learn about the world's largest disembarkation pier, wooden pier, and pleasure pier.

Create Custom Map Projections

Caitlin Dempsey

Flex Projector is a free and open source, platform agnostic software application that lets users upload GIS data and create customized small scale global map projections.

A Global Landslide Potential Map That Updates Every 30 Minutes

Caitlin Dempsey

Researchers from NASA have developed a global landslide susceptibility model that maps out areas in danger of potential landslides every thirty minutes.

A melanistic Eastern Gray Squirrel. Photo: Caitlin Dempsey.

Seven Words to Know About Squirrels

Caitlin Dempsey

Here are seven words anyone who loves to learn about squirrels should know.

A map showing a dark red area measuring heat from an erupting volcano in Far East Russia.

Kambalny Volcano Erupts for the First Time in Almost 250 Years

Caitlin Dempsey

While the Kamchatka Peninsula has the highest concentration of active volcanoes on Earth, until recently the Kambalny Volcano had been dormant for almost 250 years.

A circular map of the world centered on the North Pole. The oceans are blue and the land masses are greens and browns.

Teaching Context When it Comes to Map Projections

Caitlin Dempsey

Context is needed in teaching about distortion created by different map projections.

Understanding Ocean Wave Patterns from Satellite Imagery of Sun Glitter

Caitlin Dempsey

Researchers have developed a method by which to translate satellite imagery of sun glitter on the water into data about the direction, height and movement of waves.

ESA’s Swarm Satellites Reveal Detailed Variations in the Earth’s Magnetic Field

Caitlin Dempsey

Three years of data collection the European Space Agency's (ESA) Swarm satellites has resulted in the highest resolution map of Earth’s lithospheric magnetic field.

Color to Your Heart’s Delight With These Historical Map Coloring Pages

Caitlin Dempsey

Relax and reduce your stress by printing out and coloring in these maps.

Parts of the World That Cartographers Keep Forgetting Exist

Caitlin Dempsey

Some places and countries seem to be frequently left off of maps because cartographers keep forgetting they exist.

Using Visual Search to Find Geographically Similar Features on Satellite Imagery

Caitlin Dempsey

Descartes Labs recently unveiled its GeoVisual Search application which uses machine learning to visually search satellite imagery for similar geographic features.

Geography of Global 500 Companies in 2016

Caitlin Dempsey

Find out which countries, cities and US states have the most Global 500 countries in 2016.

View the Human Footprint on this Rotating Globe

Caitlin Dempsey

View the global human footprint map developed from 180,000 satellite images.

How to Create a Non-contiguous Cartogram Using QGIS

Caitlin Dempsey

This article presents a rough idea of how one might mimic a non-contiguous cartogram using QGIS.

Creating Non-contiguous Cartograms

Caitlin Dempsey

Non-contiguous cartograms are a type of area cartogram. In a non-contiguous cartogram, the features are not connected and enlarge or shrink based on a quantified value.

Tupai Atoll photographed from the International Space Station. Photo: NASA, public domain.

Celebrating Valentine’s Day, Geographer Style

Caitlin Dempsey

What better way for geographers to say "Happy Valentine's Day" than with geography? Nature supplies us with plenty of heart shape topography found around the world. Heart shaped islands, vegetation, and lakes make up this love themed geography article.

This sequence of frames illustrates the progression of a blue jet lightening strike extended up out of a storm cloud. Source: Chanrion et. al, 2017.

Red Sprites and Blue Jets: Electrical Storms in the Upper Atmosphere

Caitlin Dempsey

Known as red sprites and blue jets, these electrical storms shoot lightening up into space towards the outer edges of Earth's atmosphere instead of towards the surface of the Earth.

These Extremophiles Produce Brilliant Colors

Caitlin Dempsey

An extremophile is an organism that can live in extreme physical or geochemical conditions.

A blue map from 1907 showing automobile routes in the United States.

This Map Shows That By 1907, Only 11 Car Trips Across the United States Had Been Made

Caitlin Dempsey

In 1907, a three-volume publication of the Blue Book included a map showing the 11 recorded transcontinental trips that had been made to date.

Polar Bears Can Be Found in Which Countries?

Caitlin Dempsey

Learn about which countries contain the habitat range of the polar bear as well as a map of the polar bear habitat.

The History of Mapping Disease

Caitlin Dempsey

Cartographies of Disease: Maps, Mapping, and Medicine takes a look at how cartography and GIS have been used to map and combat devastating diseases such as cholera, yellow fever, and Ebola.

MapInfo Resources

Caitlin Dempsey

Here are some suggestions for peer support and resources offered for users of MapInfo.

Open Data Program Launched by DigitalGlobe

Caitlin Dempsey

The Open Data program offers high-resolution satellite imagery and crowdsourced GIS layers for large-scale natural disasters.