Chris McDowall (@fogonwater) is a geographer and data visualisation specialist. He has worked variously as a cartographer, environmental scientist and manager at the University of Auckland, Manaaki Whenua — Landcare Research and the National Library of New Zealand / DigitalNZ.

Chris’s animated maps and visualisations have been exhibited at the Auckland War Memorial Museum and the National Library of New Zealand. He has created interactive data visualisations for media organisations, including the New Zealand Herald and The Spinoff. The common thread through his career is a desire to make the nation’s data easier to find and understand.

Together with Tim Denee (@timdenee), he is a co-author of We Are Here: An Atlas of Aotearoa — a collection of maps, graphics and essays that explore New Zealand’s landscapes, climate, places, populations, economy and culture.