Dr. Rama Mohapatra is currently a professor in the Department of Anthropology and Geography at Minnesota State University, Mankato and serves as a Graduate Program Coordinator for the GIS Certificate Program.
Being born and brought up in the flanks of Eastern Ghats (Hills) in India, since my childhood, I was always intrigued by spatial processes around me. That fascination naturally attracted me to the field of Geography. As a student of Geography, I was very interested in survey techniques, quantitative methods, and regional planning. In India, after finishing my master’s degree in Geography, I was exposed to the field of Remote Sensing and GIS. As I was exploring options to pursue my Ph.D. degree in the USA, through internet search, I found out about UWM’s Ph.D. in Geography program and the esteemed faculties. I was very fortunate to get admission to the UWM’s Ph.D. program and worked under the guidance of Dr. Changshan Wu. Dr. Wu’s guidance on the application of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to extract information from high resolution satellite images was a life-changing experience for me. As an international student, financial support was one of my criteria for deciding to join UWM’s Department of Geography. Apart from the Teaching Assistantship, the Mary Jo Read Scholarship offered by the Geography Department was extremely helpful. I earned my doctoral degree in 2012.
Currently, I am working as a Professor of Geography in the Department of Anthropology and Geography at Minnesota State University, Mankato. My training at UWM helped me evolve as an expert in applications of GISc (Geographic Information Science), remote sensing technologies, econometrics, and machine learning to model geographical data. My primary role at Minnesota State University, Mankato involves teaching numerous GISc classes, serving as thesis adviser, guiding students on their internships, and supervising graduate and undergraduate student research projects. My teaching focuses on Geoanalytics, GeoAI, Geospatial modeling, 3D GIS, Temporal GIS, Web GIS, Utility GIS, Business GIS etc. In my courses, I introduce students to the concepts, theories, techniques, and tools in the context of modeling and analyzing geographical data. Therefore, everything I do every day is related to Geography.
I have a lot of fun memorials from my time in the doctoral program at UWM. Every Friday, my friends and I would attend our colloquium in the American Geographical Society Library (AGSL) and listening to the speakers was a source of weekly inspiration. After the colloquium, we would go hang out with the speakers or just with friends in the GASTHAUS, where faculty would often join us. I owe Dr. Wu a lot; each time he was there, he would pay for my soft drinks. The annual picnic, holiday party, and many other departmental social events are still very fresh in my memory. In the department, you feel as if you are in a family. During my time, we created the GIS Club on campus; I am guessing that might be the first student lead GIS club in the nation. As an international student, I was also actively involved in the activities of Student Association of India.
As you grow in your career, it is difficult to maintain a balance between work and life, but we have to somehow make that happen. If I am not doing university related work, then I try to spend as much time as possible with my family. During the summer, I try to travel and explore new places with my family and spend some time in a small garden. In my extra time, I regularly read or watch a lot of ESRI’s educational materials. I don’t consider this work because I find it relaxing. I try to make time for some of the pro bono community work that involves GIS, because I enjoy doing this type of work.
He also shared suggestions for the students in the Department of Geography; “Enjoy what you are doing. Milwaukee is a great city, and the programs offered by the Department of Geography at UWM are some of the bests in the country. As you pursue your degree, equip yourself with some technical and soft skills. I tell my students, if you are technically sound then a job is waiting for you. The soft skills are transferable and can be applied to anything you do. If you can make some friendships, then go for that. From my experience, they last long, and you cherish those relationships year after year.”