Cal Poly Student Places First at California Geographical Society Conference

Troy Lawson receiving his award from Dr. James Wanket, 
president of the California Geographical Society.

Cal Poly anthropology and geography student Troy Lawson placed first in the Professional Digitally Displayed Cartographic Award competition for his project “Historical Mapping for the City of San Luis Obispo.”

For the project, Lawson digitized historical Sanborn Maps ranging from 1905 to 1950 into a geographic information system (GIS) format and then linked them to 2011 aerial imagery of San Luis Obispo.

Lawson’s project sought building trends and identified cultural and historical buildings not currently in the city’s list of Historic and Culturally Contributing Buildings. The digitization of community artifacts is an effort to use geography and anthropology to enhance community understanding of San Luis Obispo’s hidden treasures.

The project was presented at the California Geographical Society’s 68th annual conference, hosted May 2-4 by Los Angeles City College. The conference celebrates the work of young scholars, professors and professionals in the field of geography. This year’s conference attracted about 300 attendees from a variety of community colleges, University of California and California State University campuses, and several out-of-state universities.