 Hi, I'm Marcella Suarez. I'm one of the instructors of the cartography and visualization course. In this course, you will learn how to create professional and aesthetically pleasing maps. Maps tell stories whether they are related to an analysis or planning work or to a personal project. These stories can be communicated in multiple ways. So how do you decide what map to make so that your stories are communicated in the most clear and effective way? You will learn that in this course. This is a lab-based course that covers design principles and techniques for creating maps. This includes selecting visual variables, classifying and generalizing data, and choosing map projections among other topics. But the bulk of this course will be spent getting hands-on experience creating different types of maps and critiquing maps as well. Many students comment that they were able to put what they learned to use right away at work and or in their research. They not only appreciate the variety of the assignments, but also the opportunity to use different GIS software and tools. I invite you to take this course and take your cartographic skills to the next level.