The Making of the Chicago Brownfields Storymap

Presentation Type: Presentation (30 minutes)

Skill Level: Beginner

Intended Audience: GIS User, GIS Builder, GIS Developer, GIS Instructor, Student, Management

Abstract

The US EPA Brownfields program provides grants and technical assistance to communities, states, tribes and others to assess, safely clean up and sustainably reuse contaminated properties. Come hear about the process to develop and build a storymap with amazing before and after photos of redeveloped sites, working with EPA staff and grantees, digging through archives and shepherding the storymap through EPA’s publication approval process. The Chicagoland and Northern Illinois Brownfields storymap was recently featured at the National Brownfields Conference in Chicago in August 2025, and you can see it now at https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/059a4923062e4cdf9097024182815218.

Presenter(s)

Lucy Stanfield

GIS Specialist, US Environmental Protection Agency

Lucy Stanfield has been a GIS Specialist at the US Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 office in Chicago since 2005. She makes maps, develops datasets, and trains staff on how to use GIS and presentation tools. She is a former Illinois GIS Association board member, past chair of the American Association of Geographers Applied Geography Specialty Group and currently serves on the ILGISA Program Committee. In her spare time, she is a GeoMentor with local Chicago schools and likes to cook, garden and travel.