Following in Ancient Footsteps: Jeff Blossom Maps an Explorer's Intercontinental Walk

April 24, 2020
Jeffrey Blossom

by Jonathan Colburn
 

For the past six years, Jeff Blossom of Center for Geographic Analysis (CGA) at IQSS has been collaborating on one of the most immersive and adventurous National Geographic Society projects the world has ever seen.

On his Out of Eden Walk, Paul Salopek has been traveling on foot from East Africa through Asia, headed toward Alaska and through the Americas as he retraces the path of prehistoric human migration. Students, journalists, scientists, and others following along the journey need a way to consume the gargantuan amounts of information, and maps are essential and the perfect way to match the scale of this project.

Paul Salopek and camels are led by local guides across the Ethiopian landscape
Photo: John Stanmeyer / National Geographic

 
Jeff is chronicling countless milestones, including the people that Paul meets and the number of police stops that Paul encounters as he moves through the invisible boundaries between countries and societies. Whether hiking on the open road or strolling through Kolkata’s markets, mosques, and tea shops, Jeff is with him for every step of the journey, sometimes in person but always within reach.

You can see the entirety of Jeff’s work on the Out of Eden Project at the Center for Geographic Analysis website.

Check out National Geographic's video about Jeff Blossom’s work