SoCaltech: Katie Chiu
“My undergraduate degree was in landscape architecture, and I worked in an architecture firm for many years. So, I'm a licensed architect. I transferred to The Huntington, working on the planning team over there. I soon found out that having a Geographic Information System—GIS—is very important. For example, each tree on Caltech’s campus isn’t just a plant in the ground—it’s a data point in the GIS system. You can look it up on a digital map and learn its whole story: where it came from, what species it is, when it was planted, how tall it is now, and so on.
“If you're walking around campus, you can even use mobile GIS tools to locate a tree in real time and instantly pull up its background.
“Here at Caltech, every space, every building has its own story. The campus is so beautiful—some buildings are modern, some are historical. I wanted to know the stories—like, which building might have Nobel Prize winners working inside? Where did they write their research papers? What does that laboratory look like? Is there some huge surprise in there? I just wanted to know what's happening behind it all.
“That’s why I started the GIS StoryMap Competition. If we can put this all together—the culture, the people, the landscape—it would certainly be an amazing way to tell the story of Caltech. We could even tell the stories of the wild animals, where they’re showing up, what their favorite spots on campus are. In a story map, there is video, audio, maps, a little bit of research background. All this information tied together can be easily accessed by the general audience. Everybody can participate, even if you are not a Caltech employee. As long as you are interested in Caltech culture and history, everybody can participate.”
Katie Chiu is Caltech’s space information manager. In addition to her geospatially related technical, support, and planning responsibilities, she recently spearheaded the Caltech StoryMap Competition, engaging students, staff, alumni, researchers, and members of the general public to tell compelling stories about Caltech’s unique architecture, landscape, and research using geospatial technology.
#SoCaltech is an occasional series celebrating the diverse individuals who give Caltech its spirit of excellence, ambition, and ingenuity. Know someone we should profile? Send nominations to magazine@caltech.edu.