Author: atanas
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Kumiko Yamazaki: “Do your part and keep the community going”
Kumiko Yamazaki* is a tech manager at MapQuest, Inc. in Denver, Colorado. She has spent her entire career in the geospatial industry as a cartographer, GIS analyst, and software engineer. You can follow her on Twitter at @kyamazaki. Kumiko was interviewed for GeoHipster by Atanas Entchev. Q: How did you get into GIS? A: I…
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Damian Spangrud to GeoHipster: “Reinvent with a purpose”
Damian Spangrud is a Geographer and Director of Solutions at Esri. Damian often speaks about the role of GIS, technology, and innovation trends. In his 25+ years in the geospatial industry Damian has enjoyed working across a wide range of topics and technology and tweets about all things spatial, weather, and various geeky topics @spangrud.…
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Dale Lutz: “Imagine there’s no formats. It’s easy if you try.”
Dale Lutz (@daleatsafe) is the Co-CEO and Vice President of Development of Safe Software. Along with co-founder Don Murray, Dale created Safe Software’s core product, FME, a data integration platform which helps 20,000 organizations across the world get their data from where it is to where they need it to be. Don and Dale have…
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Jim McAndrew: “There’s always going to be some next big thing, but the basics remain the same”
Jim McAndrew is a Geospatial Database Developer. Before adding ‘geospatial’ to his job title, he worked on large Oracle databases for pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies. For the last few years, he has been working with the US Geological Survey and the National Park Service to create tools that provide public access to government data. He…
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Amy Sorensen: “Keep pushing the arbitrary boundaries between geospatial and IT”
Grew up on a farm in Iowa. Started my GIS career as an intern for Emmet County, working on first iteration of E-911 for the sheriff’s department. Moved to South Dakota from there and worked for the SDDOT for a while with the esteemed title of “Automated Mapping Specialist”. Really enjoyed the work but was…
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Guido Stein: “Spatial is now a first-class citizen in most databases”
Guido Stein is a Geospatial Data Alchemist who has been working for Applied Geographics for the last 10 years. He is also the founder of AvidGeo, a Boston area meetup group that hosts events for the geospatially inclined, and he is the Co-Chair of FOSS4G Boston 2017. Having lived in Somerville, MA for over a…
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Dave Smith: “Many of the most satisfied, creative and talented folks I’ve met in geo were multidisciplinarians”
Dave Smith is with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Environmental Information in Washington D.C. Dave has a background of over 25 years of experience in working with geospatial technologies in applications ranging from emergency response and field data collection to modeling, analysis, and web mapping. Dave is also a licensed civil engineer…
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Kristen Grady: “If you’re on the ground, look up, and if you’re in the sky, look down”
Kristen Grady is a GIS Specialist at NYC Emergency Management and has over ten years of experience working in GIS. Prior to working at NYCEM she spent about six years working in academia trying really hard – but eventually failing – to avoid working a 9-5 office job. (Although saving the city from the apocalypse…
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Randal Hale: “80% of hipsters have a spatial component”
Randal Hale runs North River Geographic Systems. He enjoys long walks on the beach, talking about your feelings, and spatial databases. You may find him at your local conference, possibly in a canoe, or on a bike — but not all at once. Randal was interviewed for GeoHipster by Atanas Entchev. Q: How and why…
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Don Meltz: “I was a geodesigner before it became a thing”
I’m an AICP-certified planner working as a consultant to small towns and rural communities in upstate New York. I provide planning and GIS services for municipalities, not-for-profit organizations, and other planning consultants that require extra capacity or specialized geospatial analysis they cannot perform in house. I started my business, Don Meltz Planning and GIS, in…
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Andrea Sward: “Don’t let ‘playing it safe’ stop you from doing something you really want to do”
I am a geospatial analyst with nearly three years of professional GIS experience. Originally from Canada, the search for adventure brought me to Wellington, New Zealand a little over a year ago. Things have worked out well, as I managed to quickly find meaningful GIS employment that aligns with my passion for nature, conservation, and…
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Maps and mappers of the 2016 calendar: Rosemary Wardley
In our series “Maps and mappers of the 2016 calendar” we will present throughout 2016 the mapmakers who submitted their creations for inclusion in the 2016 GeoHipster calendar. *** Rosemary Wardley Q: Tell us about yourself. A: I am a GIS Cartographer at National Geographic where I get to combine my love of geospatial data and…