GIS Chat Podcast

GIS developer, Jonathan Robinson, loves GIS and is super excited to talk to us about how it has changed his life. Growing up on the streets as a teen, and then enlisting in the marines where he found GIS, Jonathan owes GIS to helping him find a career he is passionate about. Along, with his excitement for GIS, it is unmatched towards his patriotism for America. It is where his heart is, and he credits how GIS has helped him, the United States, and the US military.

Peter Flint, state land surveying director for Alaska, does a deep dive into how being a land surveyor in Alaska really is. He absolutely loves it, and it shows in today's episode. Topics we touch on is life as a land surveyor in Alaska and being the state representative for the NSPS, achievements in implementing Alaska's continuously operating reference network reference network, and lastly ending on Peter's previous life as an Alaska's Railroad Project Manager.

Jami Dennis, owner of the Geodetic Analysis LLC, a geospatial consulting company, gets really nerdy about data. Any opportunity to show her enthusiasm about data, she jumps on it! From extracting data to present in front of a boardroom to creating visualizations like story maps and infographics, Jami loves how data can visually enhance our GIS experience through creative means. Plus, getting involved in volunteer work has increased Jami's knowledge and skills in the industry. On the side, we briefly talk about Jami's passion for natural resources and why that brought her to photography, and then ending on how someone with more of an artistic eye, can try their luck in the GIS industry.

In this episode, we feature Forbes 30under30 alumni, Milan Janosov, as he talks about his transition from biophysics to data science. Venturing into his work for the European Commission and other freelance work. Briefly touching on his own entrepreneurial spirit with authoring his own book "DATA", and starting his consulting company, Geospatial Data Consulting. Lastly, we talk about how it is like being a freelance geospatial data scientist and some obstacles/pathways that data scientists are facing.

Chief Public Health Officer for HSR.health (Health Solutions Research), Jean Felipe, is passionate about using GIS in the public health sector. Born in Brazil, Jean studied medicine and worked with health focused geospatial analytics using A.I. to help map diseases, hospital deserts, mortality rates and so on. In this episode, we talk about Jean's experience as a primary care provider and now a chief public health officer, the history of diseases, how the public health industry is collecting data to map out crises locally and globally, and the challenges the industry is facing today.

State Geodetic Coordinator to Arizona for the NGS, and 2019 Lifetime Membership Award for the United Surveyors of Arizona, Brian Fisher has been land surveying since the late 1980's. His expertise is plentiful, and he has a ton of knowledge on what professional land surveyors are facing today. Join us as we talk heavily on the land surveying industry, how to get involved, what challenges PLS are facing today, and how radio helped Brian and a coworker save an elderly woman's life.

Born in England but raised in Ireland, Esri lead consultant, Kiera O' Sullivan delivers a fantastic talk that first centers around her role at Esri Ireland and some advice on how to be successful in the world of consulting. This includes how Kiera got her start at Esri with a biology degree and how she became a leader amongst her peers as a lead consultant. Then we really dive into climate change and biodiversity. Specifically, why climate change has had such a negative effect on Ireland's biodiversity and how we and GIS can help solve some of these problems.

One of the only four Smilovsky's found in the contiguous United States, Nik's passion into GIS originally stemmed from his love of teaching. Nik thrives in providing students the tools and resources to enable them to learn and succeed in GIS in a classroom environment. Nik has been teaching for more than fifteen years at the community college level and at the university level. He also, has a few public speaking under his belt as well. We first touch on Nik's teaching experience and why that is important to him, then we talk about his current role as a Geospatial Solutions Director at Bad Elf, a low-cost GPS provider. Nik is also a licensed arborist, so we briefly touch on his thoughts on deforestation. Then, ending on how he and his buddies started their own GIS podcast, GeoHolics.

Born in Mauritius, an island East of Madagascar, Veronique founded both organizations, AfriTech Fellowship and Geospatial Equity Tech, to help underrepresented and marginalized communities get involved in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics). But first, we talk about the U.S education system and comparing it to the U.K education system, and then we discuss how GIS can help socioeconomic issues and why GIS is so important in telling stories. Veronique incorporates story telling in her consulting, mentoring, and overall passion in helping those who are historically marginalized.

Esri government solutions engineer, Jeremiah Lindemann, has an extensive background in providing product solutions to governments and public safety departments. An important topic to Jeremiah, as it pertains to public safety, is the opioid epidemic and drug crisis. Jeremiah lost his little brother to the opioid epidemic, and ever since then has been using GIS to bring awareness. On this episode, we talk about what being on the government solutions team at Esri is like, but we mostly discuss the opioid epidemic and what we all can do to bring more awareness the matter.

Originally born in Jiangsu, province of China, Bo attended the University of Kansas to pursue a master's in architectural engineering and a doctorate in civil engineering. As an international student, Bo overcame language and culture barriers to eventually start and become president of GISTIC Research Inc, a GIS consulting company. We discuss the transition from China to Kansas in the 1980's, why engineering and IT play a big part in the GIS industry, and how FME and AI are impacting the GIS community.

Kicking off 2024 with the Arizona Department of Transportation geospatial section analysis manager, Sara Thompson. All but happy to talk about transportation, Sara geeks out on how ADOT is using GIS to improve Arizona's freeways and other modes of transportation. Some future projects ADOT has in store and what Sara does to help contribute to those efforts. Also, why Sara chose to pursue GIS over a degree in biology and the questions she had to ask herself to make the career change over to GIS post university.

No relation to Kevin Bacon, Thomas Bacon is a geospatial data scientist working in the public sector at the City of Minneapolis. After finding out that his initial life plans may not be as lucrative as he had thought, GIS was a potential on the table that pivoted him in a different career path from which he never looked back from. Thomas's passion for public awareness, stemming from social awareness to our trials and parks, is conveyed by data visualization. With these efforts, whether it be from ArcGIS Pro, Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop, Thomas's mind is always working towards finding solutions for real-world problems.

Tucson Parks and Recreation project manager, Jennifer Psillas, had a late start at university before pursing her career in the GIS Master's program at the University of Arizona. We also talk about her opinions on the "4-year" path to graduation and why it took her almost 13 years to graduate. Then we dive into her work in Project Management at the Parks and Recs and the work that the City of Tucson is doing for the community. Lastly, we briefly dive into why watershed management is important Jennifer and her suggestions to improve our watersheds.

Arizona State University project manager, Shea Lamar, prides herself in being diligent, hardworking, and providing the best work she can in her role. She is opinionated in her views on what it takes to be a good project manager. As well as what she has learned about being proactive in the GIS field, being an educator for the GIS Masters program at ASU. Passionate about GIS, but also being a leader to those she works with, she loves her profession and being able to help those who need GIS in their lives. Let's welcome Shea Lamar!

Seth's current role as GIS analyst with many hats at Tyler Technologies, is where they route school bus routing with efficiency and accuracy to ensure kids arrive home safely. We discuss his role, and how coding and scripting play a major role in his day to day and how being proficient at Python has helped him succeed in his role. Also, some common challenges that come with coding and scripting. Lastly, we leave off with how Seth was able to navigate in his career without a GIS degree for many years, and how that was originally a hindrance.

In part one of Seth Frame's interview, we discuss Seth's Archeological and Anthropological background. How he involved GIS in his archeology and why that implementation was important for natural preservation. Passionate about culture, linguistics, and the evolution of homo-sapiens, Seth covers topics that those who are anthropological geeks will thoroughly appreciate. Lastly, is there a misconception on the inception of humanity? Find out here in our interview.

Esri UX (User-Experience) designer, Justine Leach, gets passionate on the socio-economic issues surrounding South L.A, but also across America. Her background, coming from a first-generation biracial family and working as an English public-school teacher in South L.A, is why she is so passionate surrounding this topic. We also learn why she transitioned from English teacher to UX designer, and how that all landed her a job at Esri, where her transferable skills thrive to this day. Resources- Education inequality surrounding young women and minorities: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/feature-story/2022/10/leaving-no-girl-behind-in-educationhttps://www.globalpartnership.org/sites/default/files/2018-07-gpe-high-cost-of-not-educating-girls.pdfhttps://data.unwomen.org/publications/progress-sustainable-development-goals-gender-snapshot-2022https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgg/students-with-disabilitieshttps://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/03/16/as-schools-close-due-to-the-coronavirus-some-u-s-students-face-a-digital-homework-gap/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8761596/#:~:text=Girls%20experiencing%20COVID%2D19%20containment,%3B%2095%25%20CI%3A%201.55%20tohttps://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/01/09/women-and-men-in-stem-often-at-odds-over-workplace-equity/ps_2018-01-09_stem_a-09/https://www.aauw.org/resources/research/the-stem-gap/ ArcGIS City Engine: https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-cityengine-questions/disney-animation-studios-used-city-engine-for/td-p/664822https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/announcements/esri-cityengine-used-to-create-oscar-nominated-effects-in-blade-runner-2049/ “Citizen Scientists Help Home In on Sea Turtle Home Ranges” by Dawn Wright https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/blog/citizen-scientists-record-sea-turtle-sightings/ will.i.am and Esri https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/arcnews/will-i-am-embraces-gis/https://mediaspace.esri.com/media/t/1_0vvw771u?co3=true https://www.esri.com/en-us/about/about-esri/overview https://www.esri.com/en-us/gis-for-good

This week I interview Remote Sensing Analyst, Leland Sutter, from Marana, Arizona. Leland discusses how his rancher upbringing, army days, and now a remote sensing analyst for the mining company, Freeport Mcmoran, have all solidified what he values most: people. We first dive into Leland’s past: transitioning from army to civilian life. Then his decision to pursue GIS, and now leading into Project management. He also shares some of his views on the GIS industry pertaining to business, education, and the evolving nature that is GIS.

Ever heard of a freelance GIS consultant? No worries! Tisha Gonzales, from New Mexico, explains the trials and tribulations of being a small business owner in the world of consulting. How she attracts clients, and what skills are needed to successfully and effectively be a freelance consultant. Listen in, as Tisha deep dives into her love of GIS, the Arizona GIS community, and tips on how to be successful in freelance consulting as she starts her small business journey. Also, she’s got a cool puzzle book coming out soon, stay tuned!