Alice Hudson Award - Gallery of Best Printed Map Awardees

 

2022

Revising the Vietnam War: A Case Study of Herbicidal Damage to Cambodia
by Emily Lifs

This map is an attempt to reconcile a 1972 report by Arthur Westing of herbicidal damage to the "Fishhook" area of Kampong Cham Province in Cambodia with the US Herbicide File from the Vietnam War era (HERBS database) to determine how the damage occurred.

The best account we have of the use of herbicides in Cambodia comes from Arthur Westing, who traveled to Cambodia in late 1969 after the government of Cambodia raised concerns over a large herbicidal attack. Westing was able to determine where the damage occurred; assess the damage to animals, humans, and various types of vegetation, including different types of trees and crops; and conclude that the damage was most likely caused by Agent Orange and thus estimate the dosage applied based on the damage they observed. The area where damage occurred and the amount of damage was verified by both the Cambodians as well as the US State Department. Both Westing and the US State Department thought the damage was caused partially by a direct application of herbicides and partially by atmospheric drift from across the border in Vietnam.

Because no herbicidal missions aligned with the anecdotal reports from Westing's report, the HERBS database was searched for herbicidal missions
during the timeframe (April-May 1969) near Cambodia's border. The results were then compared to Westing's report and other studies of herbicides. The resulting map lends support to the hypothesis that the damage to the area was caused at least in part—and perhaps mostly—by drift from Vietnam.

This map is important because, to the best of my research, Cambodia has never been compensated for the damage observed by Westing. In 1969, the damaged area was a significant source of forest crops (tree plantations), mostly rubber, as well as other garden crops. On March 3, 1970, the US State Department informed Westing that their investigation was in its final stages; just 15 days later, Prince Sihanouk was removed from power in a coup dʼetat and Cambodia devolved into a 22 year long period of violent political turmoil. The $12.2 million estimated damages in 1969 is equivalent to $95,573,536.78 in 2022 (using a cumulative rate of inflation of 683.4%). This should be of interest to the Cambodian government, who area being asked by the US to repay outstanding loans from the Vietnam War era.

There are two other reasons to care about herbicidal damage, both related to the contamination of Agent Orange with TCDD. First, the damaged area was home to about 30,000 people, all of whom—if they survived the period of conflict in Cambodia—may have lasting health effects and effects that they may pass on to their children and grandchildren. An effort should be made to investigate possible intergenerational effects of TCDD in Cambodians as a matter of human justice. Second, and similarly, there may be long-lasting ecological effects that should be studied and addressed. Considering the extensive use of herbicides along Cambodiaʼs borders, the environment of border regions should be tested.

Intended Audience: researchers, NGOs, my thesis committee

Software Used: Jupyter Lab (Python), QGIS, ArcGIS Pro

Data Sources:

 


2021

None

 


2020

Journey to The West
by Mingtao Lei

Xuanzang was one of the most famous Buddhist monks in history. One of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, Journey to the West, was inspired by the true story of Xuanzang. This map presents a virtualized story of where Xuanzang visited in the ancient time and the boundaries of each ancient countries.

Intended Audience: To everyone who interests in the ancient history of Asia region, readers of the literature "Journey to the West"

Software Used: Arcgis Pro

Data Sources:

  • 《大慈恩寺三藏法師傳》(Chinese Edition) by (Tang) Hui Li; Yan Cong (Editor)
    On Yuan Chwang’s Travels in India tr.Thomas Watters. Reprint. New Delhi, Munshiram Manoharlal, 1996 ISBN 81-215-0336-1.
  • Academia Sinica, Chinese Civilization in Time and Space, Version 1, (Taipei, September 2002).
  • Natural Earth

 


2019

Gentrification and Racial Diversity in New York City from 1980 to 2010
by Yu Qiao Chen

Question: Does Gentrification Promote or Diminish Racial Diversity in New York City?
This map was created in part for my undergraduate thesis. The map's purpose is to unveil:
1) clusters of gentrification in New York City and its interaction with racial diversity. Does gentrification occur in areas of high diversity or low diversity rate solely? Or is it a mixture?
2) patterns of gentrification occurrence and change of diversity rate throughout time.

On a census tract level, the maps are results of a Bivariate Moran's I analysis using gentrification (determined by house value and median income) and diversity rate (entropy index) between 3 separate time periods.

Contrary to the common belief of white residents displaying people of color, gentrification does not solely induce homogeneous demographic. Harlem of Manhattan, for example, has went through gentrification but exhibits a diverse resident population. Social mixing may co-exist with gentrification. On the other hand, Brooklyn Heights falls into the category of ""traditional gentrification"", which wealthy home buyers drives out poorer resident; it grew to become a community with more White residents. Diversity rate and gentrification may be correlated factors positively and negatively.

Intended Audience: Geographers, Researchers, residents of NYC

Software Used: ArcMap, Geoda, Microsoft Excel

Data Sources:

  • IPUMS, NHGIS
    Steven Manson, Jonathan Schroeder, David Van Riper, and Steven Ruggles. IPUMS National Historical Geographic Information System: Version 13.0 [Database]. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota. 2018. https://www.nhgis.org/