geospatial | Geographical Perspectives

Postdoctoral Research or Software Engineering Position, Computational Landscape Modeling, University of Colorado, Boulder

Interesting job post appeared in my inbox. Check it out:

Postdoctoral Research or Software Engineering Position, Computational Landscape Modeling, University of Colorado, Boulder. Applications are invited for either a post-doctoral researcher with a background in the Earth Sciences and in scientific software development, or a software engineer with experience in geoscience modeling. The successful candidate will be based at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and will collaborate with a team of scientists at Tulane University, the University of Washington, and the University of New Mexico. The project entails building stand-alone software components that can be linked to explore different questions about landscape evolution over various spatial and temporal scales. The researcher will be responsible for helping to design, implement and test software, and coordinate amongst team members. The position requires knowledge of an open-source, object-oriented programming language. Experience in C++ is especially desirable, as is a background in geomorphology or hydrology, and/or experience with model-coupling frameworks. The position will have the support of the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS) infrastructure, based in Boulder, Colorado. Some travel to work with team members at different Universities will be necessary. The position is available starting in late summer or early autumn 2012. Initial funding is for one year, although the position may be extended for an additional year based on performance. To apply, please send a CV including contacts for three references and a cover letter that describes your experience with software development and numerical modeling to Greg Tucker, [email protected]. Priority will be given to applications received before July 23, 2012.

Geospatial Career Q&A with Undergraduate Part 4 – Long Term Career Planning

In Part 1, I posted a line of questioning I received from a soon-to-graduate geography major. My response is in 3 parts: (1) summer suggestions, (2) hitting the job market next year, and (3) long-term (3-5 years) career positioning. In Part 2 I provided suggestions for what to do this summer. In Part 3 I cover hitting the job market. You’ll want to go back and read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 if you haven’t already. This will be my last post in this series.

Long term career planning can be daunting. Here’s my approach in 4 simple steps.

Step 1. Don’t think beyond 5 years into the future. How can you plan for your entire career with technology and the economy changing so rapidly? You can’t. It’s too hard. Look how much the world has changed in the past 5 years. In 2007 you might have thought that a finance job at Lehman Brothers would fulfill all your dreams. Or perhaps a career as a high-flying mortgage broker sounded attractive. Not so much today. Five years is about right – if you decide to go into medicine then 5 years is a far enough to think through med school and the beginning of residency or something comparable for other medical paths. Same for legal careers, teaching, etc. And the same goes for geospatial careers. Looking beyond 5 years is a waste of time because there are too many contingencies that are unpredictable. By the way, planning for 1, 2, 3 or 4 years out is fine too if that works better for you.

Step 2. Visualize where you want to be in 5 years. Where do you want to live? What do you want to be doing? Who do you want to be spending time with? What will you need to get there? Write it down! More detail is better. Try to paint as complete a picture as possible. And focus on what you will actually do with your time rather than what title you will hold. If you can’t commit to one particular vision then write down multiple possible futures. Dream big! Don’t settle for something that sounds okay. Might as well go for it – you only make the trip once, right?

Step 3. Remind yourself of your vision(s) frequently. Once you have one or more detailed descriptions of your vision for 5 years in the future create an index card with a handful of bullet points that will allow you to conjure the vision in your head. Put it in your sock drawer or on your bathroom mirror or have it appear on your laptop’s desktop or cell phone screen – whatever works for you. The idea here is just to keep your long-term goals fresh in your head.

Step 4. Take action to make your vision a reality. If the vision stays in your head you’ll be able to take small steps, perhaps even unconsciously, to move closer to your long-term goals. The key, as I discussed in Part 3, is to take action. Don’t over-think and suffer from analysis paralysis. Try lots of different stuff and see what sticks, then build on it. Or start over if you need to. It might feel like every decision you make is irreversible and catastrophic if it doesn’t work out perfectly. Wrong! You will make mistakes, lots of them. Embrace it. You won’t get anywhere without making lots of mistakes. Learning to fail frequently is a pretty good strategy. It’s sort of like a multiple-choice test; it’s often better to eliminate some of the choices rather than only searching for the “correct” answer. There are no bad decisions.

Good luck! And let me know if I can help.

Geographer Hall of Fame – Waldo Tobler

One of the things in our culture that makes me sick to my stomach is the celebrity worship. Everyone knows all the personal details and career history of all the top actors, actresses, musicians, models, athletes, and other performers. But, no one knows the top minds in mathematics, science, engineering, medicine, law, the humanities, etc. Same is true of key leaders and thinkers working in government, non-profit and industry. People worship entertainers and ignore the “real” people who are responsible for building the society that facilitates entertainment. To try to do my part to remedy this situation, I’m going to experiment with a series of posts that recognize a few of the greatest minds in Geography. We’ll see how it goes. If you have any suggestions please leave a comment or contact me via Twitter @justinholman.

For my inaugural Geographer Hall of Fame inductee I’ve decided to recognize one of my all-time favorite geographers, Waldo R. Tobler. Dr. Tobler is probably best known for coining what’s known as the First Law of Geography: “Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related to each other”. To me, he’s the godfather of analytical cartography, a pioneer in computational geography and a leading contributor in the field of quantitative spatial analysis. I think Tobler’s real genius lies in his creative approach to visualizing spatial data. He’s produced some of the coolest maps of all time (see map of Swiss migration patterns below) using computer hardware and software that were barely up to the task. I can’t imagine what Dr. Tobler might have done with Flash or SVG or Adobe Illustrator if he would have had modern computing tools at his disposal during the peak of his career.

If you’re interested in geography and/or GIS you should learn something about Waldo Tobler and his contribution to the field. If you were a baseball player you would take time to learn something about Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron, right? Well, why not do the same in your own field?

Here are a couple of links where you can learn more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldo_R._Tobler

http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/~tobler/

Want to nominate the next Geographer for Hall of Fame induction? Leave a comment below or send me your suggestion via Twitter.

Geospatial Career Q&A with Undergraduate Part 3 – Hitting the Job Market

In Part 1, I posted a line of questioning I received from a soon-to-graduate geography major. My response is in 3 parts: (1) summer suggestions, (2) hitting the job market next year, and (3) long-term (3-5 years) career positioning. In Part 2 I provided suggestions for what to do this summer and in today’s post I’ll cover hitting the job market. You’ll want to go back and read Part 1 and Part 2 if you haven’t already.

The beginning of your career campaign after finishing college is brutal. Unless you are going into a family business or have great connections that will plug you into a paying job, there’s really no way around the pain of trying to land that first career-oriented job. Here’s my 4-step plan for getting off the ground.

Step 1. Take any job you can get so you can pay rent. Unless you have better offers to choose from please don’t turn up your nose and refuse to take a job that doesn’t require a college degree. Waiting for the perfect gig may be the worst thing you can do; the fastest way to downgrade your resume is to create a large gap of time where you don’t have anything to show for it. Even worse is to have no money for rent, groceries, or entertainment. If you can get a GIS/geography job, great! If not, do what you can to pay your bills and avoid monster debt. My favorite option for this first job is to become a waiter or bartender. The reason I like these jobs is that they’re typically easy to find, the pay is decent if you work at the right type of place and they teach sales skills. If you’re a waiter and your income relies on tips you’ll soon figure out that getting customers to buy a bottle of wine or opt for dessert can increase your tip substantially. Eventually, you’ll figure out that if you offer value – by providing helpful ordering suggestions (not just recommending the most expensive) and going the extra mile to provide excellent service – you’ll earn more money. Becoming a “trusted advisor” is exactly what you need to do whether you’re selling corned beef and cognac or consulting services. If you can’t find *anything* then spend $50 to setup an LLC and start marketing your services. Contact local businesses and ask them if there’s anything they need done. Offer to do it for free and gain experience. If you do a good job you should be able to start charging an hourly rate or a fixed fee per project. Keep your prices low and then raise your rates gradually once you’re busy. By the way, this is the time in your life when you are best equipped to weather the financial strains of entrepreneurship. The problem is that you don’t have much experience. Technical know-how and creativity can be enough to overcome the experience gap but it’s not easy so you better be really good.

Step 2. Be a geographer even if you’re not paid to be a geographer. The other thing that’s good about restaurant or bar work is that you can work evenings and use your days to advance your career. Just because you’re not paid to be a geographer doesn’t mean you can’t behave like a geographer. Write about places, create maps, do research projects, conduct site selection studies – do something that sounds fun. Take advantage of your first chance to do a geography project that no professor has to approve or grade. If you’re interested in health/medical applications, go to the CDC website, cancer.gov, or some other NIH site; download data and find an interesting story; explore and share what you learn. Make a map. Write a blog post. Over time, build a portfolio that you can use to demonstrate your interests and skills. This will be a huge help in landing that first career-advancing position. Use this time to explore! Find out what really gets you excited. You need that excitement to fuel your campaign to career success.

Step 3. Keep an eye out for a position that would allow you to pursue your passions. Set up a search in something like SimplyHired for geospatial jobs with the key words that work for your interests. Check it regularly and take the time to write a custom cover letter when submitting resumes. Think of each job application as a consulting proposal. You need to stand out so create a customized proposal and sell yourself! Also, establish a full-fledged LinkedIn profile. Join LinkedIn groups and interact with people who are in your field. You might also check out 1 or more conferences each year where you can meet, in person, the top dogs in the field. Identify people you want to meet (perhaps use LinkedIn) and then find them and introduce yourself at the conference. Make a business card, just your name and contact info is fine, and ask to exchange with them. Once you have an email and/or phone numbers, reach out once or twice with reminders about what interests you, where you want to go and what kind of position you are looking for and send a link to your portfolio. Connect with them on LinkedIn. Don’t be too much of a pest and don’t be discouraged if they don’t respond. They’re busy and may not be able to help. Go to local tech meetups or community business events. Make yourself presentable and ask if there are any intern or volunteer opportunities.

Step 4. Take action. As I said at the outset, getting started in a career after college is very challenging….especially in this economic environment. Be patient but don’t sit around and complain. No one will listen and it won’t get you anywhere. You have to take action. Try something, anything. Aim to fail frequently by trying new things. Maybe they’ll lead to something good, maybe not. You won’t know unless you try. The worst strategy is to apply to every job in the universe by sending your resume and waiting around for the job offers to come in. It just doesn’t work like that. You have to make things happen through your action. You’re not in a waiting room at the doctor’s office hoping for a quick cure; instead, you’re in the gym trying to get yourself in shape. Start moving!

Geospatial Career Q&A with Undergraduate Part 2 – Summer Suggestions

In Part 1, I posted a line of questioning I received from a soon-to-graduate geography major. You’ll want to go back and read Part 1 if you haven’t already because otherwise my response may not make sense. My response is in 3 parts: (1) summer suggestions, (2) hitting the job market next year, and (3) long-term (3-5 years) career positioning. In today’s post I’ll cover summer suggestions.

In regards to your original question (“what should I do this summer?”), my advice is to do a little bit of everything, at least until you find something that sticks.

Can you do an independent study class where you learn some database technology like SQL Server (cost of developer license is nominal) or MySQL (free) and also learn some R and work a few hours a week stitching together .shp files?
Do it all if you can manage, but limit the .shp file work – they would most likely just be taking advantage of your need for experience in exchange for grunt work. Maybe 10 hours a week or something so you can still list it as a legit internship but don’t have to slave doing advanced data entry all summer.
For the database piece try to come up with a real-world project that would be interesting to you that will force you to learn a few things about being a geospatial database administrator.
Same thing for the R piece – can you find a relatively simple project that will give you a taste for the spatial statistician route and use R to conduct the data analysis?
You should probably combine the two to get more bang for your buck. I might be able to come up with an idea for a project. If you’re interested, leave a comment and I’ll get in touch.
Keep it simple and FINISH. The project doesn’t have to be fancy, just something involving real data, some basic analysis and a presentation of the results (with maps and data graphics). The key is to finish the project and create something for a portfolio.

Try to find a professor who knows something about a bunch of these technologies. If that’s not possible, try to find an open minded professor who is willing to supervise an exploratory independent study so you can earn a few credits. If you don’t need credits, then just go out and do the best you can. Use your time to be creative so you have something to show people in September. Let me know if I can provide assistance – I can probably point you in the right direction and provide a bit of guidance but I don’t have time to become your tutor.

[By the way, there’s a new open source statistical package that purports to be just like SPSS. It’s called PSPP and you can download it here. Maybe try that if you don’t like R. I’m guessing it would be easier to learn and, like R, it’s free. I haven’t tried it yet but I plan to check it out soon. Yes, geographers are allowed to use “regular” statistics (as long as you remain wary of spatial autocorrelation). Not everything requires an ESRI product. GeoDa is another program worth exploring. There are many others that I should probably list but I’ll leave that for another blog post.]

My analogy for career clarity and discovery, and I’ll expand a bit in my next post, is to treat it like you might approach a visit to a new microbrewery. It’s often best to start by ordering a sampler rather than going straight for a full pint. If you don’t try a taste of everything you won’t know what you’re missing ….or your senses will be dull by the time you get through the entire menu (btw, I arrived at this analogy after many years of laborious market research).

In follow up posts I’ll cover (2) hitting the job market and (3) long term career positioning. Have a great summer!

TerraSeer is Hiring – Apply to Join our Team as a Database Developer

Job title: Database Developer
Date posted: 06/12/2012
Job type: Full-time

Job Description
The successful candidate will work with an entrepreneurial team of software developers to deliver cutting edge web-based geospatial visualization applications, allowing large business enterprises to leverage data investments and identify opportunities for improved operational efficiency.

The position is responsible for analyzing, designing, implementing and administering complex relational databases and working with software developers to deliver sophisticated web applications.

Responsibilities:
-Develop and work with relational databases
-Optimize existing database queries and tables
-Create efficient database table structures
-Document and improve development processes
-Debug code; ensure integrity of database programs
-Assist with data pre-processing as required
-Build SQL query modules, stored procedures, triggers, views and reports
-Develop and modify SQL stored procedures
-Communicate effectively with team members
-Prioritize work tasks and meet deadlines
-Perform intermediate DBA tasks including database security, performance tuning, backup and recovery

Job Requirements
The position requires cross-functional abilities in the development and administration, programming and testing, troubleshooting/reengineering, and maintenance of large-scale, complex databases. Knowledge of MySQL, SQL Server, and/or PostgreSQL is required, along with experience designing processes to ensure data integrity. Ability to work from a home office with occasional travel required.

Preferred candidate will possess:
• Experience with MySQL/SQL databases powering live interactive web or mobile applications
• Knowledge of complex SQL queries, methodologies, and design
• Working knowledge of PHP, Javascript, HTML or equivalent
• Experience in API design/documentation
• Experience working with geospatial data and/or GIS applications a plus
• Experience with rich internet application tools, e.g., Flash, Silverlight, HTML5, a plus
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills

Job location
Location flexible within the US, Oregon (Willamette Valley) or Colorado (Front Range) preferred.
US Citizenship required.

To be considered for this position, please send resume and cover letter to [email protected].
No phone calls. No 3rd party agencies.

Geospatial Career Q&A with Undergraduate

I recently received the following email from a student nearing graduation with a bachelor’s degree and seeking geospatial career advice.

Mr. Holman,

You’re obviously a busy guy, so I’ll try not to make this too protracted. I just wanted to say “thank you” for writing your blog.The perspective you have as someone versed in both academic geography and business is not something we students get access to everyday–it has proved extremely helpful and left me extremely hopeful that academia isn’t the only option for us geographers.

I’m a soon-to-be-graduating senior geography student. Though I have a formal concentration in GIS, undergrad students here are required to take a wide range of classes (both physical and human geography) in addition to this concentration. This is fine with me–a varied perspective’s sort of necessary to navigate life–but it’s left me as a jack of all trades and master of none. The only really *specific* thing I have going for me is independent research experience. This, I feel, has really improved some of my so-called “soft skills,” even if it hasn’t been particularly valuable in other ways.

My main concern is over how to spend this summer. I have to take just a single geography course in order to graduate, but I want to take a few others to gain some additional skills (and maybe accumulate a little knowledge in the process…).

My main interests are in cartography, statistics, and data visualization–much of this rolls over from my original major, graphic design and illustration. I’m hopelessly addicted to beautiful graphics and the information they can tell us.

So as an either/or proposition, would you recommend an independent study in database management–to help organize all those spatial datasets– or a (possibly unpaid) internship stitching together shapefiles? While this internship would perhaps be a little dull, it does constitute real-world experience using GIS. Alternately, I could register for independent study to learn how to program in R.

In conjunction with one of these “courses” I plan to take trigonometry to set the foundation for calculus. Calculus, at a minimum, seems to be required for almost every graduate program in computer science or statistics, and would certainly be helpful for those in geography.

Thank you for your time. I understand if you’re not able to answer these questions in depth; I’m just looking for a little perspective.

In response, I asked the following question: if you could do anything, anything at all, what would it be and where would it take you in the next 5 years? Focus on what you would be doing day-to-day rather than on job titles, organizations, etc.

Hmmm. That’s a tough question. I’ve thought about it before, but never gave myself a really solid response.

After much deliberation:

Starting something and then growing it into something substantial is something that’s really been on my mind, whether it be a business, a non-profit, a school, a website, etc. I like the idea of making something from nothing, and I relish working hard. Bonus points for the autonomy and flexibility that seem to be inherent to this approach. However, while I think I’ve taken a relatively entrepreneurial approach to my education, I haven’t exactly broken new ground in the “real world.”

Specifically on a day-to-day basis though, I’d like to spend time communicating with people. It doesn’t have to be in the traditional, face-to-face sense either. One of my strengths is finding and synthesizing a lot of information, and then writing about it as I understand it. On the flipside, I really enjoy doing the same thing with graphics–condensing a lot of data into a very small, detailed blurb of information.

Hope that helps.

This is great. Now, any subject areas of particular interest? You mentioned climate. Are you big into climate change? Is there a topic for you that generates the most enthusiasm?

Here’s another way to approach the same question. Imagine you have been sentenced to life in prison with no access to computers or pen/paper or any material that would allow you to be creative. But, you had a 3-month window in which to produce one final masterpiece data graphic. Your only chance to make an impact before a life of confinement. What story would it tell?

I know – you’re probably thinking “this guy is nuts”. Might be true but please just try to answer the question as best you can. There are no right or wrong answers.

Justin,Wow, my only chance to make an impact before a life of confinement! Could you have picked a tougher question?While [specific area of research, kept hidden to protect anonymity] has been good to (and for) me, it was a happy accident; it’s not really where my chief interests lie. I’m more interested in medicine and medical research, but it’s tricky to figure out what can be done in this field sans a bio/chem degree. Medical mapping/epidemiology is one of the more traditional routes people in my position sometimes take. I’d like to find a way to gather more and better data, or find some better way to use existing health/illness data. The solutions don’t have to be technical–it could be something like increasing transparency and providing better access to information.My “masterpiece” data graphic is only tangentially related to what I described above, but I think it’d make for a cool presentation:List some of the most successful people in science, the humanities, sports, and entertainment and then chart the number of rejections each one received early on in his/her career on the way to success. Rejection in this case could mean failing to receive funding, failing to sell a book, or even losing a job.I don’t know how many young people get the feeling that they can’t do anything substantial, but it seems that it’s easily more than half. This graphic would put into perspective the failures of others so they could see that its okay to fail themselves. Hopefully it would give some of the more naturally timid people a reason not to quit. You’re usually on the right path, its just hard to have perspective when you’re on it.In short, there’s always those apocryphal stories floating around about how so-and-so had to go to 100 different publishers before they received an advance. I want to track down all these stories, confirm them, and then make a visual that presents the data in an elegant way.Just a final thought:Sure, I’d love to have an aptitude for engineering and build something tangible that makes others’ lives easier, or be a doctor and heal the sick directly. But in some ways, being a geographer at the intersection of technology, society, and the environment is a far more interesting prospect. It might just require a bit of creativity and imagination to do something important.Good luck piecing all this stuff into a cohesive blog post!Here are links to my 3-part response:

Geospatial Database Administrator

This is my sixth post in the Spatial Career series. In previous posts I’ve written about how to prepare for a career as a GIS Software Developer, as a Geospatial Analyst, as a Cartography/Visualization Specialist, a Geographic Information Scientist and a Spatial Statistician. In this post I will describe how to prepare for a career as a Geospatial database administrator (often abbreviated to DBA). This career path is similar to the GIScience and Spatial Statistician paths in that you have to be interested in database admin work in general, not just the spatial data component, because you may have to start your career in a “non-spatial” position to gain experience.

Pursuing a career as a Geospatial database administrator would be an excellent option for someone who has a degree in Geography/GIS and technical aptitude but isn’t having good luck finding a job as a GIS analyst or technician. If you add a few specific technical skills (not GIS related) you may just find yourself in much higher demand. Go do a quick search on Monster or Dice or some other job board and you’ll find hundreds of high-paying SQL Server or Oracle DBA jobs. I found a SQL Server expert who tried to charge me $350 per hour for his consulting services. I told him I wouldn’t pay that kind of fancy lawyer rate and he basically stuck to his guns, saying that was his standard rate. He seemed like a bright guy but at $350 per hour he better be able to do brain surgery and IP litigation while writing stored procedures. This makes me believe that there’s a supply and demand imbalance in the database admin world. So, I think the timing is good if this path interests you. And, this can be a great way to get your foot in the door of an organization and learn how a business works and then learn additional skills to move into software or data analysis or management – whatever you prefer. Having these core computing skills at your disposal will be an advantage regardless.

So, here are 4 steps that should put you in good position for a career as a GIS database administrator.

Step 1. Don’t go to grad school. Unless you’ll be paid to work on spatial database stuff with tuition benefits and a stipend – that would qualify as a paying job. A bachelor’s is enough for this path and just some college coursework would suffice. If you already have a graduate degree that’s okay too. It probably won’t hurt you and may open up opportunities at Universities and/or government labs where you can gain good experience.

Step 2. Read everything you can about databases, spatial databases, etc. Cover all the key database technologies including SQL Server, mySQL, Oracle, PostGRES, etc. Just head over to the local Barnes & Noble, grab a coffee and read everything on the shelf that has SQL or DBA in the title. Look for books published by O’Reilly or Wrox for good applied material. After you have familiarity with a topic then dig deeper by searching for good blogs. Find out who the gurus are and follow them on Twitter, read what they recommend and tap into a community of practitioners.

Step 3. Build your own database with a simple interface to access the data. Ideally, this would be a real project that someone will actually use but take whatever you can get and just make something up if necessary. You need to be able to point to a successful “live” project that someone can evaluate first hand. You don’t need to be good at web development or interface design – focus on the database design and keep the interface simple. Maybe find someone who is good at interface design and collaborate on the project for mutual benefit. Be able to describe how you put the database together, the technologies used, the challenges faced, etc.

Step 4. Get certified. And I don’t mean acquire a GISP certificate. Instead, get a Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle certification or something similar (check job advertisements to see what’s hot). This would likely open doors at medium and large companies who have enormous data volumes that require maintenance. Maybe consider an A+ certificate or a similar sort of credential so that you can provide general IT support and work with networks/servers as well. You might be able to find this kind of thing at your local community college or via on-line course-ware. If you can work effectively with back-end IT infrastructure and databases you shouldn’t have much trouble finding a decent job to launch your career.

Again, the DBA path can be a great way to go and earning potential is excellent. Once you’re drawing a good paycheck learn everything you can about the organization you’re working for and keep your eyes open for opportunities to get deeper into geospatial data handling. You will have to engage in a fair bit of self-study and the coursework and materials may feel pricey, especially if you just finished an expensive undergraduate degree, but it should provide a pretty good bang for your buck. A good DBA with a few years of solid experience can reasonably expect to make $50k+ and, if you become a guru, you can earn over $100k in some markets.

Spatial Career Guide – Spatial Statistician

This is my fifth post in the Spatial Career series. In previous posts I’ve written about how to prepare for a career as a GIS Software Developer, as a Geospatial Analyst, as a Cartography/Visualization Specialist, and as a Geographic Information Scientist. In this post I will describe how to prepare for a career as a Spatial Statistician. This career path is similar to the GIScience path in that it’s as critical for you to want to be a statistician as it is for you to want to work with geographical data. So this guide might be reasonably helpful for anyone interested in a career as a statistician (but you’ll want to substitute specifics from the relevant application area and/or data universe, i.e., instead of geographic/spatial you’ll have to find out about the nuances in health, financial, etc). So, here are 5 steps that should put you in good position for a career as a spatial statistician.

Step 1. Get an advanced degree. I would say for this path you really should get at least a Master’s degree and a Ph.D wouldn’t hurt. In fact, one nice thing about the statistician route is that a Ph.D can open up options in private industry as well as in government and academics. Businesses aren’t afraid to hire a Ph.D type for a quantitative position whereas in other roles they will shy away from a Ph.D. So this could be a good option for someone who has a PhD but no longer wants to pursue an academic career. Also, this is another career path where you might consider at least one degree in a field other than geography. Unfortunately the market place is such that people won’t value your degree in geography in terms of the quantitative preparation you would’ve received in school. So I think you have to round out your training, ideally with a degree in math or statistics. There are several combinations that would work. A bachelor’s in math or statistics with a Master’s in Geography would work. A bachelors’ in geography and a Master’s in statistics would probably be better (you would want to minor in math or at least take a full set of courses in Calculus and Linear Algebra as an undergrad). Or, you might consider a joint Master’s in both geography and statistics. This would require some administrative effort and more time but it would be a nice combination and open a lot of doors.

Step 2. Become an expert in spatial analysis methods. Unfortunately, it’s fairly difficult to acquire this type of training. Most geography programs have a few offerings and one or two people on the faculty with appropriate expertise but most programs don’t have enough depth in this area, at least not in my opinion. There are a handful of programs that come to mind where you’ll get all the spatial analysis training you could want and more but they are few and far between. Top on my list is Ohio State because you might get a chance to study with Noel Cressie, who is pretty much the godfather of spatial statistics. He is in the Statistics department where they offer a special program in Spatial/Environmental Statistics but I suspect there are solid ties to Ohio State’s outstanding geography department. Other key programs (and key people) to consider would include UC Santa Barbara (Michael Goodchild), Arizona State (Luc Anselin) and SUNY Buffalo (Peter Rogerson). Each of these programs has a number of talented faculty and an Associate Professor might make a better advisor since they’re a bit less likely to be globe-trotting than the super stars. If you’re Canadian or interested in studying in Canada, take a look at Ryerson University – they offer a good applied graduate program in Spatial Analysis. If you’re in the UK, check out the University of Leeds. There are probably others that I’m leaving out. Feel free to suggest others in the comments section below.

Step 3. Learn the most popular statistical software programs. I would try to obtain some exposure to all of the top statistical software tools including SAS, SPSS and R. The more the merrier. Add Stata and Minitab and others if you can and you might check out free trials of newer technologies like Alteryx. You’ll probably have one go-to tool that you like best but you don’t want to forfeit a job opportunity just because you aren’t familiar with the software the target organization has already licensed. Spend enough time to feel comfortable doing basic analysis in a few different statistical computing environments. You need to be able to get past the gatekeepers in Human Resources who might toss out your resume if it doesn’t have the right buzzwords listed. Also, learn how to automate tasks in these computing environments. Let a scripting language allow you to reproduce results at a click of the button. You don’t need to take hard-core computer sciences classes, not that it would hurt, but some basic programming concepts will certainly help.

Step 4. Learn to communicate effectively. Read bullets 3 and 4 in the GIS Software Developer post and read the Cartography/Visualization specialist post. Being a statistics nerd is cool but don’t be a statistics nerd who can’t communicate with real people. Try to explain things so that a sophomore in high school would be able to understand what you’re saying. And, try to be really good at data visualization. The ability to communicate through visualization, narrative and anecdote is what will set you apart from just the regular statistician who writes equations on the white board when asked to present something to a non-mathematical audience. Instead, help your organization and your clients visualize their data in a way that leads to better understanding and collaboration. For more on this read my post on Geospatial Visualization in Business.

Step 5. Get some applied experience. You will learn a ton of great stuff from your statistics professors and other faculty. They will be able to teach you all about theory and methods. But, when it comes to applying these methods you will want to find a practitioner who has been forced to deliver answers to difficult questions with messy data under tight time constraints (think days or weeks instead of months or years). The rare professor will be good at both but don’t count on such luck. Instead, plan to volunteer to do data entry or whatever you have to do in exchange for the opportunity to interact and learn from statisticians who work on applied problems. Building statistical models that work well doesn’t involve particularly elegant mathematics, at least not in my experience. You have to be able to use a bit of “art” to get some models to work. This doesn’t make the model less useful, it will do the opposite if you do it well, but it won’t be something you can publish in an academic journal and most of your professors won’t like it. You have my permission to ignore them (unless you need their signature on your dissertation or want tenure). Learning how to do a bit of brute force modeling is a great skill to add to your tool belt. It just might allow you to actually suggest a real solution to a thorny problem. And that’s what brings in the big bucks and for some, if you’re like me, the big fun.

The opportunities in statistics/analytics are huge. If you haven’t heard the term “Big Data” by now you’ve been hiding under a rock. Use of the term Big Data may be a passing phase but a world in which all organizations are trying to make sense of enormous volumes of data has just begun with no end in sight.

Spatial Career Guide – Geographic Information Scientist

This is my fourth post in the Spatial Career series. In previous posts I’ve written about how to prepare for a career as a GIS Software Developer, as a Geospatial Analyst, and as a Cartography/Visualization Specialist. In this post I will describe how to prepare for a career as a Geographic Information Scientist.

The most important word in this job title is “Scientist”. If you love GIS and maps and geography that doesn’t mean you will love being a scientist. The most successful GIScience people are scientific researchers who happen to be interested in geographic data. So, you should love the idea of doing science as much as or more so than gazing at maps and other representations of spatial data. It also means you should be pretty good at math, an excellent technical writer and a voraciously curious investigator (so much so that you’re willing to spend hour after hour combing through volumes of scientific literature). Beyond that, you have to be highly specialized in a particular thread of scientific inquiry. You might be interested in computational methods or cognitive science. Or, you might specialize in a particular physical science or social science discipline and focus your efforts on developing new spatial methods that will allow researchers in the discipline to pose and answer new questions.

As a scientist you are most likely to find a job in government or in academics. You can find opportunities in the private sector, and the opportunities here may grow, but they are often tied to the same sources of grant funding or they involve collaboration with government/academic scientists and you’ll be judged by similar criteria as you advance within your organization. In any case, unless you become an entrepreneur (which could be a great way to go if you have the right combination of skills – probably worthy of a separate blog post), you’ll be working on building a CV (rather than a resume) and you’ll want to publish as much as possible.

I think the best way to provide guidance for this path is to study a bit about current GIS-oriented scientists who are successful in the field. Hopefully this will help illustrate some of the options available as well as some of the common threads. So, I would encourage you to learn as much as possible about top GIS scientists. Here are a few key players that come to mind for me along with links to their web pages. This isn’t meant to be comprehensive or a ranking or anything (names are listed in alphabetical order). This is simply meant to get you started.

For a more complete list of top GIScientists, take a look at the program committee for the upcoming GIScience 2012 conference. Find their CVs and read about what they studied, where they earned their PhDs, what positions they’ve held and what they’ve published. This will paint a picture and provide a set of possible road maps.

After reading about some of these successful scientists, you might note that they fall into a few different categories. You’ll want to learn about the different topics of interest within GIScience. Here’s a quote from the GIScience.org website describing the vast array of topics:

“GIScience brings together leading researchers from all disciplines to reflect the wide spectrum of scientific research areas such as cognitive science, computer science, engineering, geography, information science, mathematics, philosophy, psychology, social science, environmental sciences, and statistics.”

So what should you do as an undergrad to prepare for a career in Geographic Information Science? Well, this may not go over well with some of my fellow geographers, but I would recommend majoring in something other than geography as an undergrad and then plan to study geography in graduate school. So if you want to become a computational scientist focused on geoinformatics you should probably study computer science as an undergrad. If you’re going to focus on quantitative methods you should consider a major in mathematics or statistics. For cognitive science, perhaps you would want to major in psychology or neuroscience. If you want to follow a path like Dawn Wright, study oceanography or another earth science so you can blend an understanding of that science with GIS-related methodologies. And so on and so forth. If there is a geography department on campus I would certainly take a few courses in geography. Rather than recommend a particular subject I would try to find out who the best geography faculty are at your college/university and take whatever they are teaching. You might take an intro class and then one or two higher level courses. Or, if you’re ambitious, just ask the professor if you can register for an advanced course without the prerequisites. In advance, simply purchase the intro level textbooks and read them. Wow, what a concept – reading the material instead of listening to a set of lectures! Should save both time and money.

If you’re going to be a scientist you should plan now to attend graduate school for at least a Master’s degree and probably a PhD. For graduate school, you should choose first and foremost an advisor that does the kind of science you want to do. If that advisor is housed in a department of geography, you’ll learn all the geography you need to know. In fact, not having been taught geography as an undergrad may work to your advantage. My advisor told me that he was happy that I didn’t need to “unlearn” some concepts that are frequently taught but confusing or misleading. Furthermore, if you come to grad school with a degree in a different scientific discipline you’ll have a unique perspective that may provide an advantage when it comes time to select a research focus. Often the most fertile ground for new discovery is found at the intersection of multiple fields.

I suppose that this post is a bit less concrete than previous career-related pieces I’ve written. If you’re somewhat undecided about what to study as an undergrad but want to pursue this path and need something more specific, then here’s a recipe that should work for most:

1. Major in mathematics, computer science or physics. These majors are available at almost all universities and will provide solid quantitative training and a good base to build from regardless of your career trajectory. If you’re not interested in any of these subjects you may not be interested in a career in GIScience either.

2. Volunteer to help a professor with a research project or sign up for independent study and do your own project. Ideally, the result would be a research paper. If it’s really good, maybe submit to a journal for publication. If you get published while an undergrad you’re a slam dunk for grad school admission. The project doesn’t necessarily need to be a GIScience topic with a GIScience professor. The idea is to see if you like doing research. Same with #3 below.

3. Attend an academic/scientific conference. Even if you don’t present work, this is a good idea because it will expose you to an important part of academic life (and the “unique” social behavior of academic types). Better yet, take your research from step #2 above and present your work. Learning how to do a presentation will end up being more valuable than any single class you’ll take in college. And, don’t worry about not being an expert. Just talk about what you know and make your presentation easy to understand. I’ve seen a lot of presentations by people who are clearly intelligent but can’t manage to make their findings coherent or comprehensible. I’ve also seen a few presentations that were a disaster in all possible ways. No one humiliates these presenters and no one will humiliate you either. Gain experience early in this important arena.

4. Talk to Assistant Professors about what it’s like to become a scientist and/or an academic. Read books like a A PhD Is Not Enoughand Getting What You Came Forand other similar books. Becoming a scientist is a huge time commitment. Go in with your eyes open and be prepared for a long haul. You won’t be able to sustain the momentum necessary to charge through the PhD let alone tenure review if you don’t have some love in your heart for science and academics. Find out the real scoop. It may not be as glamorous as you think. Or maybe it’s better than you thought possible.

5. Have fun and take some classes that you’ll enjoy even if they won’t add to your scientific credentials. You’re going to be in school for a long time and you won’t make much money for several years so lighten up. Be a fun, happy scientist who loves their work and enjoys the process of discovering and sharing knowledge. Try not to be an arrogant pain-in-the-ass scientist who takes themselves too seriously and craves recognition and respect above all else. I’ve seen both types and, believe me, you want to be the former.

I hope this helps. GIScience is gaining in importance and I don’t see that trend changing anytime soon. If you dream of a tenure track professorship at a major university, I think this is probably your best bet within the discipline of geography.