UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Robert Roth, professor of geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) and director of the UW Cartography Lab, will deliver a talk at noon on Friday, April 10, in 401 Steidle Building Penn State University Park. The talk, titled “Mapping Workshops to Enhance Cartographic and Geographic Research, Education, and Community Engagement: Learning from the UW Cart Lab Design Challenge,” will also be accessible via Zoom.
Roth will discuss the UW Cartography Lab Design Challenge, a daylong mapping workshop that brings together students, researchers and community partners to collaborate on real-world mapping projects. Running annually since 2015, the design challenge has engaged more than 250 undergraduate and graduate students and nearly 100 organizers and partners across a wide range of topics spanning human, environmental and applied geography.
His talk will examine the benefits and potential risks of “map-a-thon”-style workshops and outline the strategies used by the UW Cartography Lab to ensure inclusive, ethical and effective collaboration. Roth will also reflect on key insights and partnerships developed through more than a decade of design challenge events, highlighting how cartography labs can support research, teaching and community engagement.
Roth’s research focuses on the design of interactive, online and mobile maps, with an emphasis on human-computer interaction, user-centered design and visual storytelling. He is a recipient of a U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER award and serves as chair of the International Cartographic Association Commission on the User Experience. He is also editor of the Cartography and Visualization section of the University Consortium for GIScience Body of Knowledge.
Roth earned his doctoral degree in geography from Penn State in 2011.
Roth’s lecture is part of the spring 2026 Coffee Hour seminar series hosted by Penn State’s Department of Geography. To learn more and access Zoom information, visit the Coffee Hour event webpage.