MSU Department of Geography

I enjoyed all the professors I had and the smaller class sizes helped keep me involved in the program. I am glad I went to Michigan State University and would encourage anyone who is considering to have the experience I had! After graduation I moved to Florida to work for an environmental engineering firm for 2 years (2007-2009) working on the FEMA Floodplain Management Program with the different water districts in Florida. My work involved extensive use of 3-D Analyst, Spatial Analyst and ArcHydro within ESRI’s ArcGIS program. I also used LiDAR data to create TIN and DEMs to build natural waterway networks along with the man-made drainage networks in order to determine the areas prone to flooding. I also did minor GPS work with structure location and environmental surveys. From February 2009- March 2011 I worked for a defense contractor manipulating data in GIS in order to build 3-D terrains in Terra Vista for 3-D simulation. I was mostly in charge of QA/QC for data coming in from 12 technicians. I also trained new employees on how to work in a production environment and wrote new training manuals for new employees. During this time I earned the GIS/LIS Technologist certification through the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS). The company I worked for lost their rebid for the contract which led me to move in March 2011 back to Michigan and currently work as a Business Analyst for the Oakland County IT department. I work with GIS data and Azteca CityWorks to implement a Collaborative Asset Management System (CAMS) for various Cities, Villages and Townships (CVTs) within Oakland County.