I graduated from UWM in 2016 with a BA in Geographic Information Science. Geography has always been my favorite subject from a young age. When I eventually found a high-demand niche in GIS it was game on for a career path.
In my current work, I am Manager of GIS at Bluebird Fiber, a regional fiber-optic telecommunications provider specializing in enterprise sales. The fiber field is incredibly spatial in nature, and my team supports nearly every department in the company in one way or another. We are kept very busy and our geographic expertise is in high demand.
A UWM Geography memory that stands out is doing field work around campus to support Dr. Fredlund’s research into bird collisions with windows in campus buildings. It wasn’t glamorous trudging around collecting geospatial data points for dead birds, but I learned a lot about the value of quantitative analysis methods when I leveraged this research into my senior capstone project.
Here is advice that I would like to share with the UWM geography students. I have a couple pieces of advice for current geography students. First, be highly thorough with your literature review when preparing your senior capstone paper. There was more than one student in my capstone class that was struck low during their capstone presentation because they slacked on their lit reviews, which forms the backbone of your research. Also, be prepared to be challenged in your assertions by the geography professors during your presentation, which will be similar in tone to defending a thesis! Second piece of advice for GIS-focused students, whether it’s part of the curriculum or not, take time to get comfortable with geoprocessing automation in ArcGIS. Knowing how to build geoprocessing models and understanding the basics of Python script will give you a leg up when seeking entry level GIS positions post-graduation.