Advertise on podcast: 15 Minute Maps

Forget Silicon Valley. The most innovative "smart technology" for water management might have been invented 1,500 years ago in the Algerian desert. Host Hugo Powell welcomes Momin Ashraf—Oxford graduate, Esri Young Scholar Award winner, and GIS consultant at Satellite Applications Catapult. Momin has done the impossible: using synthetic aperture radar to spot fuel trucks in the desert and tracking human trafficking via informal mines. But his dream map is something entirely different. He wants to build a dynamic, interactive visualization of the Foggara system—an ancient, gravity-fed underground water network that communities have used for centuries across North Africa and Asia. Why? Because modern French-colonial dams and canals are losing 50% of Algeria's water. Meanwhile, the Fugara's secret isn't just engineering—it's a radical social justice philosophy where downstream communities hold the power, and "water elders" negotiate allocations face-to-face. This episode is a takedown of Cartesian reductionism, a love letter to indigenous knowledge, and a warning about fighting "12 rounds with Mother Nature." Plus, Momin offers early-career GIS pros a simple roadmap through the noise (hint: start with ArcGIS/QGIS, then Python, then have fun).

What if the best map isn't a map at all—but the system that makes mapping effortless? Eloise Neff spent seven years at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) building geographic information systems from the ground up. But when asked for her dream map, she has a surprising answer: she doesn't have one. Instead, she wants something better. A dream information system. In this episode, Eloise—an engineer turned GIS manager—explains why the "...information system" part of GIS is too often forgotten. She argues that most analysts spend more time fighting their software than solving problems. Her vision? A flexible, sustainable, secure system that matches your actual needs (not your vendor's sales pitch). She walks us through the delicate balance between flexibility and sustainability, the critical role of ETLs, and why data protection in humanitarian contexts can be a matter of life and death. She also shares hard-won wisdom on navigating the headquarters vs. field divide, why GIS professionals are uniquely positioned to bridge both worlds, and the single most important skill that has nothing to do with technology: truly listening. "An information system is not a magic wand. The tool is one thing. The knowledge of the people is everything." Why GIS is first an information system, second a mapping toolThe Ferrari vs. 4x4 philosophy of system designFlexibility vs. sustainability: the eternal trade-offETLs explained (extract, transform, load)Data as a weapon: information security in humanitarian contextsHeadquarters vs. field—and why GIS sits perfectly in betweenThe lost art of listening to users

Why do biologists wake up at 4 AM to look for birds? And what does that have to do with California’s housing crisis? In this episode, California based GIS analyst and conservation expert Willa Sumer takes us inside the world of wildlife surveys, mitigation banking, nature conservation and environmental regulation. She explains why early morning field work is non-negotiable (rattlesnakes, reclusive species, and nesting season), how GIS helps developers avoid wiping out endangered habitats, and the idea of “selling” restored land to offset construction impacts. All this under the fascinating idea of 'Mitigation Banking' a topic I must admit I had never heard of.  Willa also pulls back the curtain on California’s manipulated landscape and reveals data is so difficult to access, and when it is available, why its hard to implement actionable plans. If you’ve ever wondered whether conservation can coexist with affordable housing, this episode is for you. LINKS: Willa's personal site LinkedIn

What if you could see exactly where the world’s money goes—in real time? From Swiss bank accounts to mobile money in Sierra Leone, and from colonial resource extraction to modern "resource nationalism," this episode pulls back the curtain on the hidden flows that shape global inequality. Host Hugo sits down with Matthew Roberts, Head of Geography at the International School of Geneva (and Hugo’s alma mater). Matthew shares a provocative dream map: a real-time, interactive visualization of global capital, resource wealth, and historical injustices. They discuss how AI is changing the classroom, the "geography of hope" needed to fight student eco-anxiety, and why a pen, paper, and clipboard are still the most vital tools in fieldwork. Plus, Matthew introduces the work of Social Income—proving that just 1% of your income can create a direct line of solidarity across continents. LINKS: Social Income Mathew's Linkedin

What if humanitarians had an offline-first mapping tool as reliable as a Garmin GPS? In this episode, Max Malynowsky — software engineer at the OCHA Centre for Humanitarian Data — dreams out loud about a future where field teams can sync trusted, up-to-date geodata anywhere, even with near-zero bandwidth. From the chaos of contested admin boundaries to the quiet genius of ODK and XLS forms, Max and Hugo unpack why the hardest part isn't building the app — it's building the data infrastructure behind it. If you've ever tried to print 20,000 settlements or wished for a universal translator for geodata, this one's for you. Links:  Max's LinkedIn HDX OCHA Centre for Humanitarian Data

What if all the data needed to respond to a humanitarian crisis already existed — but was scattered, siloed, and hard to use? In this episode of 15-Minute Maps, I’m joined by Saïd Abou Kharroub, a GIS specialist turned information management expert, former CEO of Civ API, and current board member of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT). Saïd’s dream map isn’t a single map at all, but a one-stop, layered view of the world’s crises — aggregating data on conflict, displacement, funding, infrastructure, population, and satellite imagery into a single, accessible platform for decision-making. We discuss: What information management really means in humanitarian contexts — beyond tools and technologyWhy decision-making often struggles to connect field realities with available dataHow aggregating existing datasets can unlock faster, smarter responses to crisesThe role of APIs, open source data, and platforms like HOT and Civ APIWhy better data doesn’t replace human judgment — but strengthens itThis episode is a deep dive into how data becomes information, and how information becomes action — especially when lives are at stake.

Urban crises are some of the hardest environments to map — and yet that’s where millions of the world’s most vulnerable people live. In this episode of 15-Minute Maps, Hugo Powell is joined by Yann Rebois, Earth Observation Strategist at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and former Head of Geodata & Analytics at the ICRC. Drawing on decades of field experience and satellite analysis, Yann shares his vision for a map that can finally make urban vulnerability visible. Yann’s dream map focuses on one of humanitarian response’s biggest blind spots: understanding who lives where in dense, damaged, and rapidly changing cities — and what “habitability” really means after conflict or disaster. Together, they discuss: Why population estimates break down in urban crisesThe limits of building footprints and satellite imagery in citiesHow proxies like water tanks and solar panels can reveal where people have returnedWhy “destroyed” doesn’t always mean “uninhabited”How GIS and Earth observation directly shape medical, water, and vaccination responsesThe challenge of detecting flooding and damage in dense urban environmentsThis episode offers a rare inside look at how satellite data, field knowledge, and humanitarian logistics come together — and why better urban maps are essential for effective aid.

What if our most trusted maps are quietly lying to us? This week on 15 Minute Maps, GIS technical advisor Cornelia Schultz (Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre) joins Hugo to reveal a hidden truth about the world’s most vulnerable places: the places we think are empty may simply be unmapped. Working at the intersection of climate change, conflict, and humanitarian response, Cornelia explains why entire communities — especially remote, nomadic, or conflict-affected populations — are missing from global mapping platforms. And when disaster hits, that invisibility can mean the difference between receiving aid and being overlooked entirely. In this episode, Cornelia unveils her “Dragon’s Map,” inspired by the ancient cartographer’s warning Hic sunt dracones (“Here be dragons”). The idea: a map that finally shows us where the blind spots are — not where nothing exists, but where our data ends. We discuss:  – Why many regions show up as “blank” not because they’re empty, but because no one mapped them.  – How climate disasters reveal entire communities that digital maps fail to show.  – The risks of humanitarian planning in a world where only data-rich places get attention.  – How the digital divide — and the economics of mapping — leave the world’s most vulnerable people invisible.  – Why highlighting what we don’t know can transform emergency response. A must-listen for anyone working in GIS, climate, humanitarian response, or global development — and for anyone who’s ever assumed that “no data” means “no people.” Links Red Cross Red Crescent Map Library Cornelia's LinkedIn

In this episode of 15 Minute Maps, I speak with David de Ridder, Senior Research Fellow at the University Hospital of Geneva (HUG), who specializes in spatial epidemiology and digital public health. David shares his dream map: a next-generation routing system that doesn’t optimize for speed, but for health.  Think: a navigation app that automatically guides you through routes with less air pollution, lower noise, fewer allergens, and greater safety — subtly improving your daily environment without adding friction to your life. Together, we explore:  • How spatial data helped track and respond to COVID-19 in Geneva  • Why tiny differences between neighbourhoods matter for public health  • The concept of exposomics — the full range of environmental factors shaping our bodies • The promise and challenges of “passive” digital health tools • How smarter maps could reduce stress, prevent disease, and promote healthier cities If you're curious about the future of mapping, digital health, or how your environment shapes your well-being, this episode is packed with insights.

Ever Wondered How You’d Navigate the Ocean With No Compass, No GPS, and No Land in Sight? Well this episode once again proves the importance of maintaining indigenous knowledge. That question led Bonner Professor John Huth, Harvard physicist and renowned member of the team that discovered the Higgs boson, into an entirely different field of research — mapping the ocean waves that Indigenous Marshallese navigators use to navigate their many atolls. In this episode we discuss:  How Marshallese navigators sail between islands by feeling subtle changes in the direction of swells. The challenge of turning experiential, embodied knowledge into something that can be mapped without reducing its cultural meaning. Why he teaches a course on navigation that blends science, history, and Indigenous techniques — and why it resonates today. How sensor data, drift measurements, and hand-drawn charts can help visualize a navigation system most of us have never encountered. If we can map the wave structures that navigators feel, we can help preserve a knowledge system that’s at risk of disappearing — and better understand how humans read their environment. This episode is for anyone interested in mapping, ocean science, traditional knowledge systems, or how we make sense of place.

We often talk about rebuilding after a disaster, but we leave so little thought for rthe materials needed. Have you ever thought about where all the rubble goes after a war or a flood? That’s the question that led Guilherme Iablonovski, a geospatial data scientist at the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, to dedicate his career to mapping matter itself — from concrete and steel to the global flow of sand, food, and everything in between. In this week’s episode of 15-Minute Maps, Guilherme joins me to talk about: Why the world needs a “map of matter” — a way to trace what materials are where, and where they move.  How cities have a metabolism, just like living beings — taking in, storing, and expelling materials in measurable flows.  What happens to all that material when a city is bombarded or flooded — and how understanding this could make rebuilding faster, cheaper, and greener.  How consumption habits in places like Paris can have invisible footprints across the world.  And why mapping matter could be key to tracking progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — especially SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities) and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production).

She Lost Her Home to Wildfires… and Turned It Into a Powerful Mapping Idea That Could Not Only Save Lives but Local History as Well! Professor Brianna Pagan Corremonte - remote sensing expert, technical leader, environmentalist, and ultra marathon runner. How can you marry all these elements together into one map? Well Brianna describes her life post wildfires in southern California and the many stories she came across while supporting her neighbours during this troubling time. She wants blend aural story telling with mapping, tying place with history. Not only does she want to put forth historic data to improve response, she wants the stories of those impacted by crises to live on. As a person who lives to be out in the wild, she firmly believes that hobbying with a purpose (in this case running 100mile races) is key to ensuring we better understand the world around us.

In this very moving episode, Esperanza Ortega-Tapia describes her dream of being able to map the loss of farming land within BIPOC communities in the United States. A topic incredibly close to her heart, Esperanza not only takes us on a journey of loss of land but also, a loss of cultural heritage. Having grown up in New Mexico, picking chilies with her grandfather on their family land, she has experienced first hand how climate change and systematic oppression has driven many to abandon farming. Sadly this is a story all too common across the world, and one that Esperanza hopes she can tackle with her research int food systems.

In this episode, Guido Pizzini - Director, Business Development, Impact and Partnerships at Immap Inc. - takes us through his dream of mapping community response to climate change. This idea is driven by his reading of Landscapes of Retreat:  '...a reading of how the climate emergency lands in real places across time by paying close attention to adaptation charged with intimate, local memory' Landscapes of Retreat, ROSETTA S. ELKIN Preparedness is at the core of humanitarian response, built up over 100 years of crises, learning and developing capacity and techniques to ensure each time an event occurs, the response is better. But impact varies greatly depending on where an event occurs. How do we capture local knowledge? How do we transpose knowledge between regions? Is that even possible or is it really just a dream?  Guido believes a concerted and unified effort within the humanitarian realm could achieve a map that does just this. Links immap.org Linked In Landscapes of retreat

Sven Schmitz-Leuffen, GIS and Technical Solutions Lead at the International Committee of the Red Cross has a problem, how to know where and to whom should the ICRC be delivering support to? Well here is where the Gap Map comes in, a comprehensive collection of needs assessments that allow the ICRC to identify the literal 'gaps' in support. We discuss the practicalities of such a map, the pros and cons of the UN cluster system (and the potential existence of a Data Cluster), and the joys of working within the legal parametres laid out in the ICRC's mandate.