Over the course of three half-day sessions during the week of July 7, 2025, the Wisconsin State Cartographer’s Office (SCO) hosted a group of 8 local high school students participating in Sustain Dane’s Powerful Teen Leaders (PTL) summer youth employment program. The first day was spent at Science Hall learning the basic principles of cartography and geospatial data. On the second day, the heat and humidity was braved in the field at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Middleton. Esri’s Survey123 tool was used to collect data on a variety of trees in a several-acre section of land that is being restored to its native status. On the third day, we went to campus’ Music Hall where we used the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture’s (DPLA) computer lab to use ArcGIS Online (AGOL) for analysis of the data we collected the previous day. Students also had time to create their own projects using Google My Maps and were able to see how that data could be integrated into AGOL. Packed into the schedule as well were quick tours of the Students’ Union, Bascom Hill and the nooks and crannies of Science Hall.
CARPC’s Matt Noone helps PTL participants collect tree data at Holy Wisdom Monastery.
SCO’s Mike Hasinoff and CARPC’s Matt Noone work with PTL participants in the DPLA computer lab in Music Hall.