Combining my passion for exploration with cutting-edge technology, I am a geospatial Data Engineer and National Geographic Explorer.
We all live together on a single lonesome planet, with enormous potential yet precarious and threatened by our own actions. We fumble as we try to individually solve for grand challenges such as war, climate change, water scarcity, or technological disruption. This is because as individuals we know embarrassingly little about our world, and rely on the help and expertise of others for almost all our needs. As such, we need stories that engender global cooperation to level-set to tackle problems at the right abstraction level.
At a time where climate and social problems exacerbate we need to make sense of the ever-changing global state of affairs. I posit that maps - cartography - simultaneously synthesize collective points of view and sketch out a collaborative plan of action. It’s by pouring all the puzzle pieces on the blank canvas before us that we can begin to see a bigger picture and develop empathy.
Turkana
Sunsets at the cradle of humankind, where the land stretches vast and unbroken, whispering stories of our deepest origins.
In 2016 Kenya's Turkana taught me about the wandering bands of storytelling Sapiens—how they became both the most transformative and destructive forces the animal kingdom has ever known. Humans evolved to think not in facts, numbers, or equations, but in stories. We make sense of the world through narratives, and the simpler the story, the more power it holds.
Pondering challenges of water desalination in the desert, I realized the power of data and maps. Not just as technical tools but as mediums for storytelling that shine light on complex challenges - such as the intricate relationship between social and historical factors that shape the human experience and our understanding of affairs & role within them. Factors that both lead to and must be considered to address societal issues we face today - such as water scarcity.
In Turkana, I saw the past stretching into the present, a reminder that we are still, at our core, creatures of myth. Large numbers of strangers can cooperate—not because of brute force or genetic ties—but because they share a common story. Belief in a shared fiction has shaped civilizations, built nations, and fueled revolutions.
Silicon Valley
That same year I was transported to a different kind of cradle—not of humankind, but of technology.
At Singularity University I saw how data flows endlessly, pulling insights from hominid minds, tracing patterns in our desires, fears, and behaviors. Every click, every like, every hesitation at a scroll is captured, measured, and fed back into the collective bookkeeping system. The archeologists of modernity traded their picks and brushes for the data mining algorithm.
Unswervingly, data is pushed back into legacy hominid minds—stories crafted with precision, designed not just to inform but to shape. Narratives are no longer passed around the fire but engineered at scale to stir the collective imagination of storytelling Sapiens.
Today
For the last decade I’ve worked to reconcile my experiences at the cradle of humankind with the inexorable advancement of technology, all while seeing storytelling sapiens fumble. Whether architecting data pipelines to map climate risk in Texas or distill population movement insights in Mexico City, I’ve seen the power of interactive computer graphics to sway an audience to make informed decisions and take meaningful action. Maps imbue the audience with elan to act.
That’s why I build maps. To craft stories that inspire and inform collective action.
Dowload My Library
I have a massive library of even more videos and images on this topic that will keep you enthralled for days. You can download them below for free, becasuse it's worth sharing.
