Hello mappers etc!

We've just launched the first issue of the "Grassroots Mapping Forum", our new community research journal/archive/zine/map, where we hope to share ideas, techniques, and stories from the Grassroots Mapping community. (For those of you who don't know, we are a community of activist cartographers who use DIY tools for civic science -- we take aerial photos using kites and balloons of things like the BP oil spill.)

The front of every issue, which is essentially a giant printed map, will depict a Grassroots Mapping site -- the first one is of an island in Wilkinson Bay, Louisiana, with oil residue along a wetlands coastline. It is printed on a single 22.75x35" sheet, folded down to just over letter size, and includes a full color reproduction of a grassroots map along with essays, illustrated guides, and interviews on the reverse.

You can find out more, and purchase the first issue here for $17 shipped: http://publiclaboratory.org/forum

If you're interested in supporting Public Laboratory's work, consider buying 3 or 4 and giving them to your friends.

The first issue of the Grassoots Mapping Forum was sponsored by DevelopmentSeed, creators of MapBox, and we are looking for sponsors for future maps. If you're interested, please get in touch.

Jeff & the Public Laboratory team