Scott Elder Email & Phone Number

District Of Columbia, United States

I research and edit print and digital maps, cartographic data, and graphics for the National Geographic Society. I write, edit, and fact-check texts for maps and graphics and serve on the National Geographic Map Policy committee. Contributed to the "Ambassadors of the Amazon" project that won the Esri/IUCN 2023 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition, the "Angolan Highlands Water Tower" animated map that won the 2023 CaGIS award for Best Digital or Interactive Map, and the National Geographic magazine Ukraine map supplement that was selected for the 2024 NACIS Atlas of Design Volume VII and won a Highly Commended award from the British Cartographic Society in 2023.Esri GIS training: Imagery Analysis in ArcGIS Pro; Preparing Data for GIS Applications; ArcGIS Pro: Essential Workflows; Cartography + ArcGIS StoryMaps (NACIS Workshop); ArcGIS Online Basics; GIS Basics.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Write travel feature articles for publications such as the Washington Post and Preservation magazine. Occasionally provide photographs.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Record and edit voice-over narration for industrial videos using my home studio. Completed commercial voice-over training with PDR Voice-Over Coaching in New York.Link to VO reel: https://vimeo.com/225689659

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Conducted research for National Geographic magazine map and graphic projects about diverse subjects, including NGM's demarcation of the Siachen frontline in Kashmir, which won the 2021 Best Thematic Map award from the Cartography and Geographic Information Society (CaGIS), NGM's map of the Spanish empire's early efforts to eradicate smallpox, which received an honorable mention from CaGIS in 2020, the online NG Atlas of Moons, which won Webby and Malofiej Best of Show for Digital awards in 2020, NGM's infographic about financial losses from the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, and NGM's map of the Dalai Lama's flight from Tibet. Wrote and edited map and graphic notes, and fact-checked projects before publication. Found and compiled information and data for staff cartographers and graphic designers from sources such as scientists, journal articles, and NGO and government reports. Conducted satellite imagery analysis, processed large and complex datasets into usable format, and filed public record requests.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Assisted the magazine’s foreign-language editions with the translation of feature articles into their languages on a monthly basis. Wrote annotative clarification documents that explained, line by line, figurative and idiomatic language, difficult syntax, background and context, etc. Resolved queries from the magazine's foreign-language editions with the assistance of magazine researchers and editors. Provided suggested cuts of article texts to accommodate translation length. Evaluated quality control reviews of translations and provided recommendations for improvement. Recorded pronunciations of uncommon names and terms for transliteration.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Developed and wrote feature articles about science, adventure, and animals on diverse topics such as avalanches, wildlife photography, Yucatán cave archaeology, and elephant intelligence. I've interviewed director James Cameron about his record-breaking Mariana Trench dive, biologist Craig Packer about lions, Angela Sheldrick about elephant rehabilitation, and the late Alan Rabinowitz about jaguars. I wrote "Sea Lions" and "The World's Rarest Leopard," which won 2021 and 2019 Folio Eddie awards for best single article in the Consumer Teen/Youth category. I wrote the Animal Rescue series about wildlife rehabilitation when it won several Distinguished Achievement Awards from the Association of Educational Publishers (2010, 2009, 2008).

Provided voice-over narration for multimedia course materials on academic subjects ranging from Advanced Photographic Techniques to Comparative Mythology. Record, edit, and process narration recordings based on scripts provided by instructors. Proofread scripts and research the proper pronunciations of foreign names and terms.

Washington, Dc

Conducted background research and interviewed experts for NG magazine feature articles and photo captions. Wrote department articles and photo captions for the magazine. Wrote articles and photo captions for NG magazine Collector’s Editions and website. Served as acting text editor for the magazine's website for two months. Proposed and booked speakers for a lecture series for magazine staff. Generated story ideas for feature and department articles. Participated in a tornado chasing expedition as a driver during the summers of 2002 and 2003.

Ba, English Literature

Education record