Mapping Out One Hoofer’s Passion
If you’re lost, chances are Caroline Rose can help you find your way. As a Hoofers member and UW-Madison alumna with a degree in geographic information systems and cartography, maps are her specialty. This affection for atlases led her to build a magnetic relief map of Lake Mendota now displayed in Memorial Union’s Chart Room meeting space.
The map’s layers are composed of Baltic birch plywood and Chemetal magnetic laminate, the material that makes the map magnetic. Caroline utilized a computer-controlled cutting machine at local workspace Sector 67 to precisely cut out the lake’s depth layers and the magnetic text labels. “I never would have approached some of the equipment without this purpose driving me,” Caroline said.
After an aerial-shot poster of Lake Mendota originally hung in the Chart Room was lost during Memorial Union Reinvestment construction, Hoofers tracked down map-savvy Caroline to take on the project.
Caroline at work on the Mendota map.
“I gained some great experience and a great portfolio piece, while the Union received a custom, homegrown showpiece that will be functional and lend some unique character to the Hoofers new meeting space,” Caroline said.
A Hoofers member since 2009, Caroline has held various leadership positions. Being a Hoofers council representative, treasurer and club president have helped her gain confidence when talking to groups, and while developing her skills as an outdoor instructor and trip leader.
“After my experience in Hoofers, I feel that I can take charge of a complex project, whether that’s organizing an event or building a project like the Mendota Map,” Caroline said. “I learned to manage the big picture, break it into components, delegate tasks, find resources and persevere through unexpected obstacles to bring a project to fruition.”
Hoofer’s outdoor instructors and members are already using the map to pinpoint relevant landmarks on Lake Mendota and Hoofer SCUBA dive zones. “We designed the map to be modified however people want,” Caroline explained. “There are even extra magnets for people to mark their own special spots.”
Caroline says it’s an art piece and an interactive tool “created by Hoofers, for Hoofers,” and hopes it will serve future generations of Hoofers for years to come.
See Caroline’s story in this year’s edition of the Wisconsin Union Annual.
