From the Nominator

Within the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of Geography, a pair of researchers from the Wisconsin State Cartographer’s Office have been hunting for cartographic phantoms—forgotten patches of land inaccurately listed on the official Wisconsin state map. The project was featured in the Letters & Science Fall 2024 print and digital magazine in a story written by Editor Alli Watters titled, “Phantom Finders.” Watters interviewed cartographers Howard Veregin and Mike Hasinoff about their efforts to track down and document these phantoms, simultaneously chronicling pieces of Wisconsin's geographic history and ensuring that current maps are accurate. The story was aimed at alumni of the College of Letters & Science and was designed to show the scope and impact of the college's research. The article resulted in significant audience engagement with more than 2,300 pageviews on the digital site, plus 37,000 print copies. To maximize the impact on this project, the researchers created an interactive map where members of the public could have a role in contributing to the research by submitting their observations about suspected cartographic phantoms. After publication, the story was picked up by media outlets in several states across the country, including on the front page of an agriculture newspaper that goes to 53,000 rural households. With this additional reach, the researchers were able to get more submissions to help with their goal of bettering the Wisconsin state map. Plus, we reached more people with this story of an impactful, one-of-a-kind research effort.

From the Judges

Congrats to the UW team who produced a fascinating and quirky tale of cartographers and their contributions to the community and state! We praise the comprehensive multimedia storytelling and the playfulness of the writing that matched the levity of the subject matter.