ESRI competition selects Clark lab’s forest carbon map as finalist

A map created by Geography Professor Christopher Williams’ Biogeosciences Research Group has been selected as a finalist in an international competition hosted by ESRI, a world leader in developing geographic information system (GIS) software.

“Forests: Our Best Carbon Capture Technology” is a finalist in ESRI’s 2025 storytelling map gallery competition; the finalists are posted in an online gallery. Each map “showcases the powerful capabilities of GIS technology and tells stories you’ll want to explore,” according to the company.

Available for print, the 36-by-24-inch wall map aims to communicate forest carbon concepts in a clear and approachable way. It illustrates the importance of forests to climate goals and visualizes updated National Forest Carbon Monitoring System datasets developed by Williams’ lab under contract from Open Space Institute. Conservation organizations and state and federal agencies use the dataset in targeting forest conservation for the greatest climate benefits.

Natalia Hasler, a research scientist based in the lab, which is affiliated with Clark’s School of Climate, Environment, and Society, “deserves all of the credit for the coding, data processing, methods advances, and geospatial work that produced this dataset,” Williams says. “We are proud that a display of our lab’s data on U.S. forest carbon stocks and carbon uptake has been selected.”