Aravaipa Canyon — Kevin P. McClain

Municipal & Applied GIS

GIS at the Town of Marana

Production cartography, utility data management, and geospatial applications for a rapidly growing Arizona municipality.

City-Wide Addressing Program — Town of Marana

Addressing · Municipal GIS

City-Wide Addressing Program

Managing and maintaining the authoritative addressing database for Marana's rapid urban growth — coordinating across Fire, County, utilities, builders, and USPS to ensure data consistency across all agencies.

MOVE Across 2 Ranges Hiking Challenge Map

Event Cartography · Parks · Trails

MOVE Across 2 Ranges Hiking Challenge

Starting in 2023, I began doing the cartography for the MOVE Across 2 Ranges that happens every February. The event has four trail-difficulty choices, requiring a hike through the Tortolitas then the Santa Catalinas.

Marana Parks Map

Cartography · Parks

Marana Parks

I created maps of all Town of Marana parks. This required visits to parks where I compared old data to existing features. It was an excuse to bring park data up to date.

2022 Marana Subdivisions Map

Cartography · Municipal Reference

Subdivisions in 2022

The local post office asked for a large map print of Marana with zip code boundaries and all subdivisions. This is what I came up with.

Reference Map

Cartography · Municipal Reference

2022 Town Reference Map and Municipal Facilities

My first duty at the Town of Marana was to update the reference map for the town. I went with a plain phonebook-like map that attempted to show the basic features of a city.

PhD Research · EU Marie Curie Program

Geoscience Maps & Illustrations

Publication-quality maps, terrain analyses, tectonic diagrams, and research infographics from doctoral research on the North Anatolian Fault system.

Quaternary Rock Uplift Rates — North Anatolian Fault

Scientific Article · Published 2020

Quaternary Rock Uplift Rates and Their Implications for the Western Flank of the North Anatolian Fault Restraining Bend

Fluvial terrace dating and GIS terrain analysis revealing 540,000 years of unsteady rock uplift history along the Filyos River Gorge, Central Pontides. Published in Tectonics (Wiley / AGU), 2020.

Local geomorphology map and diagram — Central Pontides

Fluvial Geomorphology · Published 2021

River, alluvial fan and landslide interactions in a tributary junction setting

OSL and cosmogenic dating of fill terraces and alluvial fans revealing the role of climate, hillslope processes, and aggradation in masking tectonic uplift signals. Published in Geomorphology (Elsevier), 2021.

AGU and EGU Conference Posters

Event Cartography · Conference

AGU and EGU Posters

The goal of the PhD was to use rock uplift rates in the Turkish Central Pontides to demonstrate the landscape response to uplift and climate.

Fine Art

Paintings

Paintings — Kevin P. McClain

Kevin P. McClain, PhD

I am a Senior GIS Analyst and physical geographer with a doctorate in Earth Science from Istanbul Technical University. My work spans municipal GIS, geoscientific illustration, and cartography, with a particular interest in how maps can make complex spatial information legible to both specialists and non-specialists. I also started painting recently.

I am currently based in Arizona but hopefully not forever. 11 years in Europe radicalized me to appreciate vibrant cities, which we do not have here. I also do not want to continue experiencing climate change in an extreme climate like the Sonoran Desert.

Current Role

Senior GIS Analyst
Town of Marana, AZ

Education

PhD, Earth Science — Istanbul Technical University
MS, Earth Science — Uppsala University
BS, Geography (GIS) — University of Oregon

Research Interests

Geomorphology · Hydrology · Natural hazards · Glaciology

GIS Interests

Infrastructure · Transportation · Environmental Quality · Natural Hazards · Awesome Cartography

Software

ArcGIS Pro · ArcGIS Enterprise · QGIS · Python · Adobe Illustrator · Affinity Suite

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