Every summer, geography undergrads fan out across the city (and the world!) to share their time and talents as interns. We asked some of them to talk about how this summer’s internship experiences helped them learn and grow.

Molly Anderson, Junior majoring in Human Geography and Cartography & GIS

This summer I worked at the UW Facilities Planning & Management Physical Plant where I was one of five interns under Paige Taft. One consistent part of our job was locating underground utilities for construction sites. Another was collecting and recording spatial and categorical data about the Physical Plant’s assets around campus, such as waste receptacles or building signs. By doing this work, we ensured greater accuracy in the maintenance and other operations on our infrastructure here at UW.
At work, I was exposed more to how ArcGIS Online/Enterprise works differently from ArcGIS Pro, in that it creates published layers and web maps for many people to use instead of just a local project. I was also able to explore many of the newer tools that are being developed within the software, such as indoors modeling and dynamic map series’ tools. It was very interesting to learn about all the inner workings of our campus, spanning from the insides of the steam tunnels to the expanse administrative processes that keep the university running. Overall, I believe this was a very meaningful internship to teach me how to think more independently about using GIS creatively for real world applications.

Sean Cervenka, Senior majoring in Geography and Cartography & GIS

This summer I had an amazing experience working for Esri as a Technical Support Intern at their headquarters in Redlands, CA. As a GIS & Cartography student, I have gotten familiar with using GIS software, but supporting it provided a unique perspective as we worked through the challenging June software release across ArcGIS Online products. In addition to supporting user cases from all over the world, I also had a great opportunity to collaborate with fellow interns in Esri’s Weekend of Innovation Hackathon. Combining knowledge from geography, design, business, and development, my group developed a working off-road EMS routing app that won the competition! The support and knowledge of the people around me introduced me to new ideas, skills, and interests both inside and outside of GIS. As I head into my senior year of undergrad, I am inspired by all the real-world uses of GIS I saw this summer and look forward to applying what I learned to my coursework and personal projects.