Hi, I'm Lily (they/them)!
I'm a cartographer, UI/UX designer, and researcher of critical geography and queer/trans theory.
I'm currently a PhD Candidate at Penn State University in the Department of Geography. I have been ABD since May 2025. I am in a 5-year MS+PhD program, and completed my Master's degree in 2024. My undergraduate degrees in Cartography/GIS, Human Geography, and Anthropology are from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which I completed in 2022.
GeoGraphics Lab members Harman Singh (graduate student), Alicia Iverson (creative director), and I at AAG 2026.
I accidentally matched with the Geography floors and walls! (Designed by Harrison Cole, Cindy Brewer, and Nate Cherok).
With Christina Grozinger, PI of the Beescape project, after I invited her to speak at the Penn State Geography Coffee Hour.
Dr. Anthony Robinson serves as my advisor, and I am also mentored by my committee members, Dr. Cynthia Brewer (cartography and HCI), Dr. Mark Ortiz (youth geographies and storytelling), and Dr. Pamela VanHaitsma (queer rhetoric and archives, Department of Communication Arts and Sciences).
My research is currently funded by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP), Grant No. DGE1255832, which I was awarded in 2024 (read the Penn State News article about my fellowship here).
My primary research focuses on mobile and responsive thematic map design. My Master's research focused on this subject specifically in the context of data journalism, but my PhD research expands to other realms of thematic map design. I am also the senior graduate student in the Penn State GeoGraphics Lab, where I have mentored undergraduate and junior graduate students and collaborated on projects related to gender-based violence, non-binary epistemologies, and user-centered design.
I have held many service roles within the field of geography, but I am most proud to have been elected to serve a as Director-At-Large for NACIS (the North American Cartographic Information Society), where I have served on the DEI Committee (co-organizing the 2025 DEI Speaker Series), manage the NACIS Shop, and hosted "Practical Cartography Day" in 2024 and 2025.
Outside of work I love to bike, run, hike, read sci-fi and fantasy books, garden, cook, and travel.
I'm always ready to learn something new! You can contact me at lhoutman@psu.edu or through any of the links at the bottom of this page.
My research is currently funded by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP), Grant No. DGE1255832, which I was awarded in 2024 (read the Penn State News article about my fellowship here).
My primary research focuses on mobile and responsive thematic map design. My Master's research focused on this subject specifically in the context of data journalism, but my PhD research expands to other realms of thematic map design. I am also the senior graduate student in the Penn State GeoGraphics Lab, where I have mentored undergraduate and junior graduate students and collaborated on projects related to gender-based violence, non-binary epistemologies, and user-centered design.
I have held many service roles within the field of geography, but I am most proud to have been elected to serve a as Director-At-Large for NACIS (the North American Cartographic Information Society), where I have served on the DEI Committee (co-organizing the 2025 DEI Speaker Series), manage the NACIS Shop, and hosted "Practical Cartography Day" in 2024 and 2025.
Outside of work I love to bike, run, hike, read sci-fi and fantasy books, garden, cook, and travel.
I'm always ready to learn something new! You can contact me at lhoutman@psu.edu or through any of the links at the bottom of this page.