Name: Ryan Robert
Major & Minor: Geography, History
Year Graduated: 2009Current Employer: GeoSpatial Services – Winona, MN
Length of Employment: 1 year
Interests and Hobbies: disc golf, swimming, camping
What helped you decide what route to take after graduation (i.e. graduate school or type of job)? Christina (and the job market) encouraged me to pursue a graduate program. I’m glad I listened. I studied GIS at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.
What do you think gave you to edge to get your current position? I left UWEC with a firm foundation in GIS concepts and techniques, but I strongly believe that my graduate experience opened new networking opportunities for me. I was introduced to Geospatial Services, my current employer, during my studies at Saint Mary’s.
Describe your typical day at work: I work on National Wetland Inventory projects for the USFWS and the WI DNR. The job includes several processes including: orthorectification of images, raster to vector conversions, data attribution, geodatabase management, and topology validation. I work with very talented people with great personalities!!!
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? My goal is to continue working in the GIS field. Ideally I would like to be working for the city police department as a crime analyst. I’m at an exciting point in my life!!! I will be getting married in September of next year and my Fiancé and I just purchased our first home. Kids next?!?!?
What advice can you give to those who are still in school? I would mention three things:
1. Database design and management skills are extremely valuable. I would also recommend being comfortable with SQL.
2. The web page development and/or web application development seems to be increasingly linked with GIS and its capabilities. Agencies/organizations/employers seem to be moving more and more toward publishing interactive maps on the internet.
3. Learn a programming language. I would recommend Python as ESRI is moving in that direction.
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