Matthew Toro

Matthew Toro is a broadly trained geographer serving as the director of maps, imagery, and geospatial services at ASU Library.

As the founding director of the Map and Geospatial Hub, Matthew has fused the operations of a traditional map library with a modern GIS center. The Hub executes a wide range of projects at the intersection of data management, geography, history, cartography, and visualization.

Matthew's work is diverse. He's produced insights on subjects ranging from land use conflicts in Laos, to the health impacts of the built environment in Miami. He's the founder and editor of Miami Geographic, a data visualization blog about the Miami metro region. 

Among his current projects are a couple noteworthy initiatives:

• Pioneering a Library Digital Twin: developing a framework and prototype for an application that virtualizes library space, collections, and processes. Under Matthew's vision and direction, his team built the Map and Geospatial Hub 3D Explorer, the world's first library digital twin. It's a web-based GIS application modeling the library in 3D, enabling users to virtually tour, discover, locate, and access resources while assisting staff with asset management. The innovation earned the team a hat trick of accolades, including the 2023 ALA/RUSA Best Emerging Technology Application Award, a 2022 Esri Special Achievement in GIS Award, and the 2022 ASU President's Award for Innovation.
   
• Mapping Grand Canyon: constructing various cartographic histories of the greater Grand Canyon region and exploring how maps, and mapmaking, have shaped our understanding of that (now) iconic landscape. Notable projects include Dutton's Atlas: How Cartography Helped the Canyon Become Grand; Visualizing the Survey: Plans and Profiles of the Colorado River; and overseeing the groundbreaking Mapping Grand Canyon Conference in 2019, among others.