Energy Stories Lab Research Showcased at the 2026 Esri User Conference
The Energy Stories Lab is pleased to announce that After the Burn, an ArcGIS StoryMap by Dr. Jean-René Leblanc, has been selected to be showcased at the 2026 Esri User Conference in San Diego.
Explore the StoryMap: https://arcg.is/1SO8zX2
Created following the 2024 Jasper National Park wildfire, After the Burn combines infrared photography, mapping, and digital storytelling to examine how landscapes continue to bear both the visible and invisible traces of climate-related disturbance. Rather than documenting wildfire solely as an environmental event, the project explores fire as a cultural landscape where ecological change, infrastructure, public memory, and climate witnessing intersect.
Developed through the Energy Stories Lab's research-creation methodology, the StoryMap demonstrates how artistic practice and geospatial technologies can work together to generate new forms of environmental knowledge. Infrared photography reveals aspects of the landscape that remain imperceptible to the human eye, while the StoryMap situates these images within their geographic, historical, and ecological contexts. The project also serves as a form of climate witnessing, preserving visual traces of wildfire that may disappear as damaged infrastructure is removed, trails are restored, and the landscape gradually recovers. In this sense, After the Burn documents not only the wildfire itself, but also the fleeting evidence of its aftermath.
The selection of After the Burn reflects the growing recognition of StoryMaps as a powerful medium for communicating interdisciplinary research. Bringing together GIS professionals, researchers, educators, and practitioners from around the world, the Esri User Conference provides an international platform for innovative approaches that connect spatial technologies with public engagement and storytelling.
After the Burn forms part of the broader Pyro-Mobilities research initiative, an interdisciplinary collaboration examining how wildfire is reshaping landscapes, mobility, and public understandings of climate change across Canada. The project demonstrates how research-creation can complement scientific inquiry by producing new ways of seeing, interpreting, and communicating environmental change. Through the integration of visual art, geospatial technologies, and narrative, the Energy Stories Lab continues to explore how creative methodologies can deepen public engagement with the social, cultural, and ecological dimensions of contemporary energy and climate challenges.
Explore the StoryMap:https://arcg.is/1SO8zX2
Learn more about the Esri User Conference:https://www.esri.com/en-us/about/events/uc
