Anne Godlewska is head of the geography department at a university. She's
also president of a geographers' association. She believes that GIS technology
will continue to grow in terms of usage and applications. But being a GIS
expert is not just about developing increasingly sophisticated GIS technology,
she says. It's also important to make it accessible to the average person.
"Most important will be finding ways to make GIS available to the general
public," says Godlewska. "[And] it will always be necessary to be able to
think critically about the data being mapped. That is the essential skill."
Joseph Kerski works to make GIS more accessible to young people. He's a
geographer with a GIS software company. He attends education conferences,
training educators how to effectively introduce GIS into the classroom.
Kerski's interest in GIS started early. "Like many people in the field,
I've always liked maps," says Kerski. "I loved looking at satellite images.
I used to draw maps as a kid for my family. And I was always the family navigator
on road trips.
"And I came into it from enjoying different places, noticing how they were
different, getting out there in the landscape, sketching and taking pictures."
Kerski has seen GIS grow in usage over the years. He says GIS is behind
the scenes all around us.
He offers the following example. Think of the first half hour when you
wake up. Your alarm clock goes off -- GIS was likely used to figure out how
to route electricity to your house. You pour some orange juice -- farmers
use GIS to figure out how to water their crops, and how to get their product
to market. You get on the bus -- public transportation uses GIS to figure
out the most efficient routes. This also applies to the transportation of
the fossil fuels used by vehicles like buses.
"I think that GIS is kind of like an elevator," says Kerski. "A lot of
people don't think about it running behind the scenes. You get on an elevator
and push a button and don't think of the mechanics behind the scenes."
However, interpersonal skills are even more important than technical skills
and content," says Kerski. "And I think the main one is creativity, and curiosity
is right up there as well -- being curious about people and the landscape.
And another is the desire to help people and the planet. That's a big thing
that drives a lot of people in the geotech field."
Kerski says GIS experts should also be resourceful and not afraid to take
risks. It's also important to be a good problem solver.
"The biggest thing is they have to be creative in their thinking skills,
and they have to be able to analyze situations and data, and really bring
things together," says Shannon White. She's a geospatial expert at the University
of Missouri. "They need to be able to see that big picture and be able to
communicate it.
"No one teaches a class on how you do analysis," she adds. "Most people
think it's just the scientific method, but it's much more than that.
"With GIS you can run into some very simplistic problems that can affect
the larger analysis," says White. "And you need to find not only what's causing
the software to not work, but you need to identify when the data isn't right,
meaning it doesn't meet the expectations. A lot of times what we find is students
can push the button but not see the larger picture. It's not just pushing
the buttons, it's thinking about the answer to the problem that's much more
important, and that's very hard to teach."
As with Kerski, White's interest in GIS has its roots in her childhood.
"I was interested in mapping at a young age and I was interested in technology,
and I happened to fall into GIS by happenstance," she says.
White was working on a master's degree in social studies education. One
of her professors was considering applying for a grant, but the grad student
had to know about GIS. Therefore, the professor suggested that White take
a course in GIS. She ended up pursuing a graduate certificate in GIS. Then
she pursued a PhD with a specific focus in GIS.
"There was a certain level of challenge to it that I enjoyed," says White.
"With a lot of technology you push the button and the computer takes care
of it. But with GIS it required that I analyze not just the data but also
the choices I was making with that data -- thinking about how you visually
represent the info."
White expects there will continue to be lots of opportunities for new GIS
experts. And it will increasingly move from a place behind the scenes to the
forefront of how people look at the world.
"I don't see it as anything that's going away anytime soon," says White.
"In fact, we're finding more dependency on GIS at the local, state and federal
level.
"When I started in GIS many moons ago, it was very rare that I came across
someone who knew what the GIS term meant," she adds. "But what
I find now is I come into contact all the time with people who do understand
the technology."