Mapping what matters: Highlights from the 2026 LA Geospatial Summit ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition
Each year, one of the most anticipated moments at the USC Spatial Sciences Institute’s Los Angeles Geospatial Summit is the announcement of the winners of the ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition, sponsored by Esri.
Students compete for awards in three categories: Most Innovative Use of Technology, Most Compelling Communication Using Maps, and Most Suitably Applied Methodology or Analysis.
The 2026 Summit, held on February 27 at the USC Hotel in Los Angeles, brought together students, young professionals, and industry leaders to explore the frontiers of geospatial science. This year’s competition carried a special distinction. For the first time, high school students from Anderson W. Clark Magnet High School in Glendale were invited to compete alongside undergraduate and graduate students. This expansion added a new “Best High School Submission” category to the program.
“We’re inspired by the ingenuity and innovation behind these students’ projects,” said Andrew Haglund, Esri’s Higher Education Senior Account Manager. “We are encouraged to see the next generation taking on the challenge to better the world by leveraging geospatial science and technologies.”
“Most Innovative Use of Technology”
Nicholas Mora
Infrastructure is often invisible until it fails and nowhere is this truer than the sidewalks connecting urban communities. This year’s “Most Innovative” entry, Sidewalk Management: Walking the Walk by University of Redlands MGIS Candidate, Nicholas Mora, tackled the challenge of sidewalk condition management through a spatially driven analytical framework.
Using GIS tools to assess, prioritize, and communicate pedestrian infrastructure needs, the project demonstrated how geospatial technology can bring new rigor and transparency to the essential work of maintaining walkable cities.
“Most Compelling Communication Using Maps”
Khouri Evans-Dangerfield
Employing one of the world’s most iconic fictional cities as a vehicle for very real planning principles, University of Redlands student Khouri Evans-Dangerfield’s project, Gotham City Emergency Evacuation and Response Guide, made emergency preparedness both accessible and memorable.
By mapping evacuation routes, response zones, and resource distribution across a richly detailed urban environment, Evans-Dangerfield showed how cartographic storytelling can cut through complexity and engage audiences who might otherwise tune out a traditional emergency management report.
The project was a standout demonstration, reminding attendees that great map communication is as much about the story as it is about the data.
“Most Suitably Applied Methodology or Analysis”
Brian Pidduck
Few issues hit closer to home for Southern Californians than the dual crisis of wildfire risk and housing affordability. USC graduate student Brian Pidduck’s Between Flames and Affordability tackled both head-on. By applying rigorous spatial analysis to examine where fire hazard zones and housing cost pressures intersect across the region, the project illuminated the difficult trade-offs facing residents and policymakers alike.
The methodological depth of the work, combined with clear visual communication, earned it recognition as this year’s strongest analytical submission.
“Best High School Submission”
Alexander Iknadossian and Charles Lamb
In a fitting debut for the competition’s newest category, two students from Anderson W. Clark Magnet High School submitted Clark Magnet Bus Optimization, a project analyzing their own school bus network.
Using GIS tools to model routing efficiency and identify opportunities for improvement, the team demonstrated that geospatial problem-solving skills don’t have to wait for a college campus. It was a grounded and practical project that spoke directly to a real challenge in their own community.