Undergrad wins international storytelling competition

Ravyn Veenstra turned a class assignment into a first-place finish in a global storytelling competition.

Veenstra closed out her final term at McMaster by winning the 2025 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition‘s environment category for students. More than 450 storytellers from 55 countries submitted entries.

Using a combination of interactive maps, video, photos and text, the fourth-year student told the story about the annual 8,000 km migration of humpback whales across the Southern Ocean from Australia to Antarctica and back again. She also created a timeline that tracked the recovery of humpback whales from imminent extinction in the 1960s. Judges called Veenstra’s submission a “beautiful, rich and rigorous story” and “an exemplary model of intentional design choices that invite users into a truly immersive experience”.

Whales have long fascinated Veenstra. When she was 14 years old, her grandmother took her whale watching off the coast of Newfoundland. For her graduation gift, Veenstra and her family are heading to Churchill River in northern Manitoba to watch the annual summer migration of thousands of beluga whales. “They’re among the most majestic creatures on our planet and my absolute favourite.”

Veenstra graduates in June with both an Honours Environment & Society degree and a concurrent certificate in Geographic Information Science (GIS), Urban Studies & Planning. She says the certificate is a big reason why she chose McMaster after taking a GIS elective at her high school in Huntsville.

Before her storymap was an entry in an international competition, it was a major assignment in Patrick Deluca’s fourth-year web mapping course. Veenstra earned an A+.

“I always encourage my students to submit their projects in competitions,” says Deluca, a GIS specialist, instructional assistant and lecturer. “You never know what judges will think about the work.”

Veenstra spent her entire Fall Reading Week working on the assignment. Her storymap incorporates just shy of 1,800 data points. “It was a real labour of love. I worked on it every minute of every day that week.”

As soon as she wrote her final exam in December, Veenstra tweaked her assignment and submitted it just under the wire to the global competition. “The understanding and conservation of wildlife is something I care deeply about” and thanks to GIS and ArcGIS StoryMaps, I was able to share that with others.”

Veenstra’s first place finish didn’t surprise Deluca. “Ravyn has a real affinity for GIS web application development. Her attention to detail is unlike other students at the same level and she’s not afraid to experiment with different storytelling methods. Her design choices created an immersive experience worthy of a winner.”

Two other McMaster undergrads who took Deluca’s course  – Abeer Farhan and Easton McGillicuddy – were among the top five student finalists in the people category.

The annual competition showcases how GIS tools and geospatial data can be used to tell impactful stories through interactive maps. Storytellers used Living Atlas content – from data layers and satellite imagery to 3D basemaps and deep learning packages – to tell stories in the environment, people and infrastructure categories.

Veenstra’s now working on an independent study project with Deluca and student Sophie Glowka to refresh the maps used in the Code Red series first published in the Hamilton Spectator in 2010. The series started a community-wide conversation about health disparities in the City of Hamilton, with a focus on the social determinants of health.

“It’s an opportunity work on something important with a real world impact,” says Veenstra.