Doug Marvel with

Spatial Marvels, an Indianapolis-basedGIS consultant. Doug’s college focusresulted in a degree in EngineeringTechnology.

Doug provides consulting expertise insetting up, researching, maintaining, andenhancing a Geographic InformationSystem (GIS) for many types of indivdualsAnd organizations/business entities.From small start-up companies to local, city,township, and state governmentalagencies and to large corporations, Dougenables an entity to better utilize itshuman and financial resources throughstreamlining GIS accessibility.

The most enjoyable aspect of Doug’s jobis watching a business/entity work theirway from no GIS, to the beginnings of aGIS (training, hardware, software, nervous-ness), through to a fully robust andestablished GIS. The final phase - where everything is proceeding smoothly and everyone is comfortable using the software and grasps the possibilities that GISoffers, in terms of problem-solving, makesDoug feel like a proud parent. Everyone thenIs better able to serve the public.

During high school, Doug had a special interestin then emerging technologies – before personal computers.Course work that helped in accomplishing his goals includedrafting and lots of math. Drafting provided the foundationfor visualizing a GIS, thus, implementing the software.

College courses that have been invaluable to Doug’sprofessional career have been math, engineering anddesign, and relational database management systems.Doug encourages students to become aware of the conceptof a GIS as most data available today is utilized to solveproblems in some type of a GIS.

Bruce Nielsen, USDA-NRCS Indianapolis Office, Jill, Saligoe-Simmel, IGIC President, Jack Dangermond (ESRI Founder, CEO and owner) and Becky McKinley.  Photograph was taken in San Diego in 2002 when the Indiana GeographicInformation Council won an ESRI Special Achievement in GIS Award.

Becky McKinley with the

Hammond Sanitary District.

Becky’s leadership and tutelage have brought thenorthwestern corner of Indiana into the light in termsof geo-spatial technology use, applications, problem-solving, and outreach. She thoroughly enjoyscollaborating with colleagues, learning from others,and sharing possibilities – all revolving around GIS,including aerial photography.

Becky is the GIS Manager for the HammondSanitary District. Her job encompasses all data,hardware and software work revolving around theuse of geographic Information systems addressingthe Hammond, Indiana area sanitation issues.

Becky is quite active in providing connections withgeo-spatial technology colleagues around the state,with K+ educators in the area, and with business andpolitical leaders throughout the state. Spending timeeducating those not familiar with GIS is a task thatBecky takes on graciously. She also spends timeassisting GIS professionals in the northwesternportion of the state enabling data sharing, problem-solving, and cost sharing. Connecting Indiana’sstudents (future geo-spatial technology professionals)with GIS, GPS, and aerial photography makesBecky feel positive about the direction that GISwill take in Indiana’s future.

Course work that Becky finds useful fromhigh school would be math, drafting and computerdesign. Communications and writing were alsovital course work from both high school and collegetraining. Much GIS work revolves around themanipulation of data and the production of visuals, butin order to explain the visuals, a good written reportmust accompany the project.

Becky will visit with schools in the area. She can bereached at bmckinley@hammondsd.com .

Kelly Johnston with the

Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

Kelly is an Environmental Manager with IDEM. He has a Masters of Science in Geographic Information Science.

Kelly creates custom maps, trains users on GIS software, provides support for GIS users, maintains/ updates/enhances GIS data, and works with aerial photographs.

The aspects of his job that he likes include using GIS technology to protect the environment, working with lots of maps, learning about cutting-edge technologies, and working with individuals from diverse fields (chemists, geologists, and others). Kelly feels that he learns something every day from the people he encounters. Kelly feels that through GIS and geo-spatial technologies, the environment will be made a better place by mitigating the human impact and maximizing the relationship between humans and the environment.

Some of the college courses that have proven valuable to his job: Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, cartography, spatial statistics, and research methodologies.

Some of the high school courses that have proven valuable to his job: algebra, trigonometry, and drafting.

Kelly would be willing to visit your school in central Indiana to discuss GIS or to talk about environmental issues and the use of GIS to develop solutions; e-mail at kjohnsto@idem.in.gov

Charles Hickman with the

United States Geological Survey

Charles is a Geographer with the USGS. He has a Masters of Arts in Geography from Ohio State University.

Charles is a Mapping Liaison between the United States Geological Survey and the state of Ohio. In this capacity he helps to coordinate mapping and geographic data activities among Federal, State and local governments and programs and projects.

Some aspects of Charles’ job that he really enjoys are meeting a variety of people and sharing his love of data. Charles believes that spatial data is fun! Most people like maps, and Charles benefits from this commonality as people share their enthusiasm for GIS and for maps.

Some of the college courses Charles took that help him in his job were physical geography, cartography, communications, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Some of the high school courses that Charles took that have helped in his career are algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, and art.

If you would like further information on the USGS “Community Map” program, contact Charles at chickman@usgs.gov.

Jennifer Wayman

with Pinnacle Mapping, Inc., is aPhotogrammetry Technician.

Jennifer received her Associates Degreein Photogrammetry and has been mapping inthree-dimensions ever since!

Her job entails planimetric and topographicmapping in a 3-D environment. This means thatshe wears stereoscopic lenses (see them in thephoto at left – they look like black glasses) that add the three-dimensionality to an aerialphotograph. From the three-dimensional aerialphotograph, she can capture ground features by“tracing” them. – or the x/y coordinates on the groundcan be matched to the same coordinates on theaerial photograph. This refined data can then be usedin a GIS to solve problems. By doing this highlyspecialized job, contours and depth are added tothe computer visual images that are accessed byusers of the GIS software and data.

In this type of work, experience and training areinvaluable. Reliance upon the human eye is keyin determining planimetric applications. There are still many facets that the humaneye can detect that a computer cannot.

The course work that Jennifer found mostvaluable to her current career would includeall math and drafting at the high school level.And at the college level math, technology, and photogrammetry courses were the reasonthat she determined this type of career.

Jennifer enjoys exploring new and remoteplaces from a different perspective, yet, thefeeling is as though you are really there.

Bill Holder

is the GIS Director for the Kosciusko CountyGovernment. He manages the acquisition,use, distribution, and management of thevarious pieces/layers of GIS data available inthe county in order to solve problems, toenhance commerce, and to outreach to thepublic. Bill works with many individuals at alllevels of government and within business andat-home citizens.

Bill received a Bachelor’s Degree in Geographyfrom the University of South Alabama anda Master of Arts Degree in Geography fromAppalachian State University. He loves geographyand the possibilities that it brings to betterunderstand humans and the world in whichthey live.

A few items that Bill especially enjoys about hisjob are making maps that help people, findingways to improve the quality and functionalityof the county mapping website, using GIS datato resolve problems, working with aerial photo-graphy, and knowing that every day will be differ-ent, challenging, and exciting.

The best part about his job is working with somany different types of people with so manyvarious needs.

Looking back, Bill finds that the most helpful coursestaken in high school that help in his employmenttoday were English composition (because he has towrite many reports and proposals), Architectural Drawing,and Speech. Courses in college that enable Bill to betteraccomplish his professional goals were any type of GISor Computer Mapping/Cartography, Map and Aerial Photo-graphy Interpretation, Plane Table Survey, Hydrology,Digital Image Processing, and Writing.

Bill would be willing to visit classrooms in the KosciuskoCounty area (and surrounding counties). His e-mail is bholder@kcgov.com. Telephone is 574.372.2485.

Dawn Torok

Dawn’s title is the GIS Coordinator with theCity of Lawrence,

Dawn works a lot with local school groupsfamiliarizing the educators and students witha GIS and other geo-spatial technology possi-bilities. One of the best ways to outreach aboutGIS is through the use of aerial photography.Everyone loves to see places from above: home,school, lakes, rivers, interstates and other structures,and natural places. She enjoys introducing youngpeople to possibilities that will be a part of theireveryday personal and professional lives as theyget older.

Dawn has worked with the Indiana TechnologyEducators Association in providing guidance andclassroom ideas and resource possibilities tomany high school technology educators. She hasalso worked with the Geography Educators’Network of Indiana in facilitating outreach. AndDawn has assisted local Scouting groups to work toward their GPS/GIS badges.

The parts of her job that she enjoys the most is working with great colleagues, helping local citizens better understand property issues, and teaching others about the beauty of geo-spatial technologies. She also enjoys knowing that people can actually use her work to solve problems.

High School courses that Dawn believes were valuable to hercareer today: math, geography, history, business, and language arts. College courses that were valuable to Dawn’s career were everything related to location, location, location! English, Business, Geography, Math, Science, History, Planning.

Dawn would be willing to visit your classroom to teach about geo-spatial technologies. dtorok@cityoflawrence.org

Phil Worrell

Phil is the GIS Director with PinnacleMapping, Inc.

Currently, Phil oversees all GIS-relatedactivities undertaken by Pinnacle. Whethertraining (internal and external), consulting,problem-solving, or resource management,Phil ensures that Pinnacle maintains aprofessional image, a quality product, anda task-oriented staff for timely completion.

Phil received an Associates of Science inComputer Technology and a Bachelor of Sciencein Business Information Systems.

The aspects about Phil’s job that he enjoysThe most are working with local and stategovernments: maximizing their resources (human,capital, hardware) to obtain reliable, high-qualityresults with the promise of future shared data toenable quicker problem-solving in the comingyears.

“Hind-sight is 20/20 they say”. And Phil looksback to his high school and college daysremembering the academics that enable himto better facilitate his job today. In high school,Phil took all of the math available and the drafting courses that were available. The mechanics ofmath enable the mind to better utilize and understanddata management and GIS software.

Any computer-related course available in college washelpful as they each teach and familiarize you with somethingvaluable.

High school may seem not too important, but in the long run ofyour life, it can be the little things that you learn that become the mostvaluable in your future life.

Layne Young with the

Department of Natural Resources,GIS Division.

Layne enjoys working with educators andStudents throughout the Indianapolis metropolitan area in his capacity as anemployee of the DNR and in his capacityas an avid geo-spatial technology specialist.

Layne’s imagination in terms of classroomcurriculum and applying geography and geo-spatial technologies is immeasurable. Hecreates ideas and methodology on a weeklybasis. The trick is to type up the ideas!

The Indiana Orthophotography Map Puzzle (http://www.iupui.edu/~gst/ortho.html) andthe M&M Community Map Activity (http://www.iupui.edu/~gst/gps.html) are examplesof Layne’s education-oriented mind.

In high school, Layne believes that math, science, and geographyenhanced his ability in the workplace. As well, Layne believes thatcollege courses such as creative writing, science, geography,and planning provided a solid foundation for his success in theworkplace.

Layne may not have time to visit your classroom, but you can e-mail him questions at Layne.Young@indy.gov

Invite your county GIS specialist to visit the school/classroom and to introduce your students to local spatial data, local problems being solved spatially, and local solutions. Look for your county GIS webpage, too.

Visit the IGIC (Indiana Geographic Information Council) website for access to IndianaMap --- a free, on-line resource that provides data for all 92 counties in the state and that can create various maps with the data – including orthophotography (aerial photography). Students can learn a lot about their state and county. http://www.indianamap.org

Visit the IndianaView Project via Purdue University. The site offers various spatial data materials that students can utilize to solve problems and plan for the future. View images, learn about GIS (through a free software package called MultiSpec), and link to AmericaView to learn about other states. http://www.indianaview.org

Visit the Indiana Spatial Data Portal for more Indiana spatial data. Viewmaps, aerial photographs, and learn about where data comes from (meta-data). http://gis.iu.edu