This list contains all the organizations attending the 2022 UTK Geography Virtual Career Mingle. It also includes a short bio for the attendees and specific questions you should ask those attendees. Organizations are listed in alphabetical order. Scroll to the bottom of the page for the attendees of the After Hours event.
Look for the UTK Geography globe logo to identify attendees who are department graduates.
Bath and Body Works
Attendee: Beth Rogers
Be sure to ask me about:
- How weather, marketing, and data science drive decision making
Calvert Street Group
Attendee: Madison Allen
Bio: Madison Allen works for Calvert Street Group, a public affairs consulting firm that specializes in land-use development, in Nashville, TN. She graduated from UTK in 2019 with a double major in Geography and Psychology.
Be sure to ask me about:
- What is it about Calvert Street that sets you apart from your competitors?
- What is something interns have gained through their experience interning at Calvert Street?
- What extracurricular activities do you think are beneficial for students to get involved in if they want to do the type of work you do?
City of Maryville
Attendee: Ray Boswell
Be sure to ask me about:
- Internships
East Tennessee Development District
Attendee: Emily Craig
Be sure to ask me about:
- Grad school versus entering the workforce
- Supporting local government
- Scenic byways
Knox County Engineering and Public Works
Attendee: Vi Tran
Be sure to ask me about:
- Graduate School
- GIS in local government
Knoxville-Knox County Planning
Attendees: Terry Gilhula, Nick Schoenborn, Alex Zendel, Erin Kelbly, Andrew Beasley, Aubrey Weiland
Maxar
Attendee: Damani Driver
Be sure to ask me about:
- Internship opportunities
- Adding value to satellite data
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Attendee: Paul Lemieux III
Bio: Paul received his B.A. in Geography and M.S. in Information Science from the University of Tennessee in 2014 and 2016 respectively. He currently works as a Physical Scientist for the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Previously he has interned at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, the ORNL DAAC, and the ORNL Research Library.
If students want to learn about navigating USAJobs for gov’t positions I can help with that. I can also talk about navigating internships within the NASA system. Not really aware of any certifications needed for this industry, but ML/AI and Cloud Development are big initiatives being pushed in gov’t right now.
Be sure to ask me about:
- Metadata, archives, digital curation, libraries
- Weather, kites
- Connecting on LinkedIn
NASA Earth Science Disasters Program
Attendee: Ronan Lucey
Bio: I am a Research Associate supporting the NASA Applied Science Earth Science Disasters Program. In this role, I serve as an administrator of the NASA Disasters GIS Mapping Portal, as well as a provider of Program coordination support for Latin America / Caribbean and domestic partners throughout the Disaster cycle – risk, resilience, response, and recovery. I received my bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of Massachusetts, and my master’s degree in Earth System Science from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Be sure to ask me about:
- Undergraduate opportunities and how to seek those out to prepare you for the working force, particularly in a field like geography where the degree can be applied to a wide range of positions and career paths.
- My background in computer science – I almost failed computer science my freshman year of college and now I use it regularly for work, there was a monumental shift in there that students can learn from.
- What employers/hiring managers are looking for beyond GIS experience and coursework – as a Principal Investigator I do hire students straight out of school, and there are soft and hard skills that are considered valuable and can enhance the resume of prospective hires.
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Attendee: Kate Lenzer
Bio: Kate Lenzer, M.S., GISP is the Senior GIS Project Manager for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a non-profit organization dedicated to saving America’s historic sites, telling the full American story, building stronger communities, and investing in preservation’s future. Kate has spent the last 10 years combining science (GIS) with creativity (cartography) to save both land-based and historic resources across the country.
Be sure to ask me about:
- What’s the positive (and negative) of working for a small GIS consulting firm? For a non-profit organization?
- How are you using GIS in the humanities/to understand racial equity/to understand climate change effects?
- I don’t know what I want to do with my life, how did you figure out what career trajectory to take?
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Attendee: Chris DeRolph
Be sure to ask me about:
- Internships
- Post-Bachelors Research
Attendee: Jesse Piburn
Be sure to ask me about:
- Pokemon Go
- Internships
- Data Science
State of Tennessee, Department of Finance and Administration, Strategic Technology Solutions
Attendee: Dennis Pedersen
Bio: Dennis has served as the Director of GIS Services in the Department of Finance and Administration, Strategic Technology Solutions for 16 years, and has worked in State government managing and coordinating GIS activities since 1993. He has been part of the Tennessee Base Mapping Program since its inception in the late 1990’s and has led the development of enterprise GIS solutions and other statewide GIS/mapping initiatives including Tennessee’s participation in the USGS 3DEP program. Dennis holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography from Carroll University in Wisconsin, and a Master of Science degree in Geography from Northern Illinois University. He is active with the National States Geographic Information Council and the Tennessee Geographic Information Council and served as President of TNGIC in 2000.
Be sure to ask me about:
- URISA, TNGIC, and AAG
- I didn’t have an internship
- GISP
Student Conservation Association
Attendee: Stephanie Meeks
Be sure to ask me about:
- My experience with The Nature Conservancy
- My experience with The National Trust for Historic Preservation
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC)
Attendee: Bonnie Craighead
Bio: I graduated from UTK with a degree in Environmental and Soil Science, I then went on to have an AmeriCorps position with the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement in Knoxville, which regulates surface coal mining. After that I spent two years working with the USDA-NRCS as a Soil Conservation Technician before landing at my current position as an NPDES permit writer and coal mine inspector for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) Mining Section, where I have worked the last two years.
Be sure to ask me about:
- My experience with AmeriCorps
- TDEC offers unpaid, semester long internship programs, including one in the Mining Section
- TDEC employees people with a wide range of backgrounds and degree programs
Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT)
Attendee: Kim McDonough
Bio: Kim has extensive experience working for TDOT. Kim is also heavily involved in URISA, the international professional organization for geospatial professionals.
Be sure to ask me about:
- What is a GISP, why should you want to be one, what can you start doing now to earn it?
- What is the URISA GIS Corps?
- What is the URISA Vanguard?
- Where to learn more about TDOT internship opportunities
TerraCycle
Attendee: Riley Smith
Bio: Riley Smith recently graduated from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in 2021 and received the Outstanding Graduate Award from the Sustainability Department for her work as an intern at TerraCycle. She’s now employed as the North American E-commerce and Marketing Associate for the Zero Waste Box department at TerraCycle.
Be sure to ask me about:
- Students can ask me about internship/employee opportunities, employee engagement, company culture, and day-to-day responsibilities.
- Students can also ask me about the key skills for success at TerraCycle.
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Attendee: Sam McCloud
Be sure to ask me about:
- TNGIC
- Undergraduate research
The Trust for Public Land (TPL)
Attendee: Kirsten Mickow
Bio: Project Manager for Urban Analytics at The Trust for Public Land, works to analyze and translate data and insights to inform strategic investments in parks and land for people. Kirsten manages the geospatial components of the ParkScore® index, working with the 100 largest US cities to map and assess parks and park access to better inform park investment strategies.
Be sure to ask me about:
- Knowing where you are now in your current role, is there one skill or technology you wish you had invested more time to develop?
- Is there an internship opportunity that could help students get introduced into your industry?
- Are there partner agencies/organizations/industries that would be beneficial to learn from in order to round out skills and knowledge needed for your work?
- Red or green
USDA Forest Service
Attendee: Todd Schroeder
Be sure to ask me about:
- Post-graduate research opportunities
- Navigating the federal hiring process
- Remote sensing
USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Attendee: Kyle Landolt
Be sure to ask me about:
- Working at ORNL
- Graduate degrees
Attendee: Colleen Anderson
Bio: Colleen Anderson is a cartographic technician with the USGS at the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center in Wisconsin. She has education and job experience in GIS, environmental studies and conservation biology, and military operations.
Be sure to ask me about:
- How I’ve been able to incorporate my non-GIS experiences during interviews, as well as use it to enhance my performance.
- Government hiring process vs. private sector hiring process; advantages/disadvantages of working in either.
- GIS is very broad and it is difficult to be skilled for every position. We can discuss strategies to search for employment based on geographic region, development, cartography, data management, etc.
WSP
Attendee: Drew Gaskins
Bio: Drew Gaskins received both a BA (2008) and MS (2012) from UT’s Department of Geography, with a specific emphasis on human geography studies and spatial analysis. Drew has worked as a private sector urban / transportation planner in the Nashville area since 2011. In this capacity, he has assisted various public sector clients with technical planning assistance including environmental review, regional and sub-area studies, corridor plans, and active transportation plans.
Be sure to ask me about:
- Knowing where you are now in your current role, is there one skill or technology you wish you had invested more time to develop?
- Is there an internship opportunity that could help students get introduced into your industry?
- Are there partner agencies/organizations/industries that would be beneficial to learn from in order to round out skills and knowledge needed for your work?
- How do you sell your geography major to potential employers?
After Hours Attendees
Join us for a panel discussion around sustainability, the built environment, and green infrastructure on Wednesday November 17, 2021 from 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm ET. Register for the event through Handshake and you will receive Zoom details for the event.
- Attendee: Ian McRae
- Title: Innovation Designer
- Organization: Sherwood Design Engineers
- Attendee: Bandana Kar
- Title: Group Lead and Senior Research Scientist
- Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Built Environment Characterization Group
- Attendee: Jesse Rosenbluth
- Title: Director of Business Development, Green Infrastructure Technical Services
- Organization: Omin-Ecosystems