Michael Mitchell: Cartographer
Michael’s GIS and cartographic skills were developed over twenty-eight years in the industry, including several years in academically related pursuits and eight years as a GIS consultant. The remainder of his tenure was spent working as a GIS technician and municipal GIS specialist providing GIS and mapping support for Parks Canada and the Municipality of Jasper. He also spent many summers providing wilderness travel and mountaineering consultation to park visitors. Michael has recently retired from the public service, but continues working as a GIS analyst and freelance cartographer.
Michael migrated to Jasper in 1986 and was instantly captured by the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Through a great many backpacking and mountaineering excursions across this stunning landscape, he developed a comprehensive set of hands-on wilderness skills along with a deep comprehension of complex mountain terrain. This invaluable practical experience, combined with an advanced scientific and technical understanding of geospatial data modelliing, and an insatiable urge to represent the mountain aesthetic cartographically, helped chart a journey that is, so far, nowhere near an end.
During his time as a consultant, Michael acted as GIS specialist and principal cartographer for a number of integrated land-use management projects. One such project received the 2008 National Merit Award from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, and the 2009 Alberta Emerald Award in the Community Group category.
His academic background is anchored firmly within the ecological sciences and GIS. He holds an M.Sc. in landscape ecology, specifically addressing spatio-temporal landscape vegetation dynamics at meso-scales. He possesses extensive experience using the ESRI family of GIS software, Adobe Creative Suite, IDRISI, and a myriad of other related spatial data and system applications.
Michael has released four retail cartographic products to widespread acclaim and international recognition. In the Spring of 2017, his Banff, Yoho, Kootenay National Parks map was accepted to the permanent art collection of the Whyte Museum in Banff, Alberta and was included in their 2017 summer mountain art showcase. A full version of the map can also be seen in Parks Canada's Banff National Park Visitor Centre.
The Banff, Yoho, Kootenay map was displayed with Canadian Cartographic Association's map submissions at the 2017 International Cartographic Association conference in Washington, D.C. and was similarly shown at the 2017 NACIS and CCA annual conferences. Michael's Jasper National Park map was displayed with CCA’s map gallery submissions at the 2015 ICA Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was also included in ESRI Canada's 2010 calendar.
His third retail map product representing the world-renowned Skyline Trail backpacking route in Jasper National Park was released in Spring, 2015. In the Spring of 2018, Michael released his fourth cartographic publication, and second in his backpacking trail guide series, this time focusing on the outstanding Berg Lake Trail in Mount Robson Provincial Park, British Columbia.
Michael’s GIS and cartographic skills were developed over twenty-eight years in the industry, including several years in academically related pursuits and eight years as a GIS consultant. The remainder of his tenure was spent working as a GIS technician and municipal GIS specialist providing GIS and mapping support for Parks Canada and the Municipality of Jasper. He also spent many summers providing wilderness travel and mountaineering consultation to park visitors. Michael has recently retired from the public service, but continues working as a GIS analyst and freelance cartographer.
Michael migrated to Jasper in 1986 and was instantly captured by the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Through a great many backpacking and mountaineering excursions across this stunning landscape, he developed a comprehensive set of hands-on wilderness skills along with a deep comprehension of complex mountain terrain. This invaluable practical experience, combined with an advanced scientific and technical understanding of geospatial data modelliing, and an insatiable urge to represent the mountain aesthetic cartographically, helped chart a journey that is, so far, nowhere near an end.
During his time as a consultant, Michael acted as GIS specialist and principal cartographer for a number of integrated land-use management projects. One such project received the 2008 National Merit Award from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, and the 2009 Alberta Emerald Award in the Community Group category.
His academic background is anchored firmly within the ecological sciences and GIS. He holds an M.Sc. in landscape ecology, specifically addressing spatio-temporal landscape vegetation dynamics at meso-scales. He possesses extensive experience using the ESRI family of GIS software, Adobe Creative Suite, IDRISI, and a myriad of other related spatial data and system applications.
Michael has released four retail cartographic products to widespread acclaim and international recognition. In the Spring of 2017, his Banff, Yoho, Kootenay National Parks map was accepted to the permanent art collection of the Whyte Museum in Banff, Alberta and was included in their 2017 summer mountain art showcase. A full version of the map can also be seen in Parks Canada's Banff National Park Visitor Centre.
The Banff, Yoho, Kootenay map was displayed with Canadian Cartographic Association's map submissions at the 2017 International Cartographic Association conference in Washington, D.C. and was similarly shown at the 2017 NACIS and CCA annual conferences. Michael's Jasper National Park map was displayed with CCA’s map gallery submissions at the 2015 ICA Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was also included in ESRI Canada's 2010 calendar.
His third retail map product representing the world-renowned Skyline Trail backpacking route in Jasper National Park was released in Spring, 2015. In the Spring of 2018, Michael released his fourth cartographic publication, and second in his backpacking trail guide series, this time focusing on the outstanding Berg Lake Trail in Mount Robson Provincial Park, British Columbia.
