Which program did you participate in and when?
I am currently in the in-person accelerated master's program for GIS and cartography. I finish at the end of this summer!
Could you tell us a little bit about your education and career path?
I did my undergrad degree at UW-Madison in Environmental Studies and Russian language. Building a solid background in environmental work is what initially pushed me to pursue a technical degree in GIS and cartography. For the future, I would like to develop digital tools for the public to enhance their knowledge and connection to the environment. My focus for my practicum is on building a mobile hiking app for tourists. I believe that this will be the first step to more opportunities in the future!
What do you like to do for fun?
I love to get out on the lakes, be it in a kayak, sailboat, or just for a swim.
What advice would you give current students?
Definitely reach out to your classmates early in the semester and set up connections. I can’t count how many times I was stuck on a lab assignment and only finished with my classmates’ help. Some of the classes, especially the coding-heavy ones can be extremely frustrating to tackle alone. Working with others and suffering together can actually make things fun, or at least bearable!
Current job or future job:
I just started an internship in the cartography lab for the summer. For a future position I hope to work with the state or county government in the environmental sector.
In what ways did your experience with GISPP prepare you for/ enhance your career?
I feel that GISPP gave me a significant foundation in a variety of programming languages as well as their applications in GIS analysis as well as cartographic design. I found the classes to be a good mix of intense, technical work and hands-off, exploratory projects. Thanks to this variety, I am confident pursuing jobs in multiple sectors.
Favorite memory of GISPP?
My favorite memory has to be when my teammates and I submitted our final project for Geog 575 only 9 minutes before the deadline! We spent a lot of late nights tweaking and rewriting our code up until the end, but the team effort made it fun and extremely rewarding, along with a nice project to highlight on my portfolio.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with program staff or prospective students about your experience?
The staff are all extremely helpful and understanding if you have any problems or difficulties during your journey. Do reach out to them if you are struggling.