Bio

Ryan Abeloe (M.S. in GIS, University of Denver) currently works in Denver in the oil and gas industry with responsibilities ranging across ArcMap, ArcGIS Server/Portal, SDE, and even a few non-ESRI tools. Ryan discovered his passion for GIS while he spent a summer working between McMurdo and the South Pole, Antarctica. He previously worked in transportation engineering and for non-profits performing demographic analyses in GIS.

Bio

Andrea is a GIS innovator with over 15 years of experience in developing creative GIS solutions for county government across multiple states. She has a broad understanding of GIS software and technologies ranging from data collection, to nuances of GIS software and web application development.

Education

Andrea earned a B.S in Biology from the University of Wisconsin – Superior and also earned an M.S. in Water Resource Science from the University of Minnesota.

Bio

Steven Hick is the Director of the Geographic Information Systems program at the College of Professional Studies, and is a Professor of the Practice in Geographic Information Science (GIS) in the DU Department of Geography and the Environment. He has led GIS education and research activities in the department for three decades and was instrumental in creating one of the nation’s first Master of Science degrees in GIS.

He also provides crime mapping and analysis technical assistance to law enforcement agencies across the country, having taught crime mapping and analysis in the DU Crime Mapping and Analysis program under the auspices of the US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. Additional professional interests include Transportation and GIS. He has also taught GIS and Statistics for the Executive Master’s Program at the DU Transportation Institute.

Previous Professional Experience

Prior to joining the DU, Steven was a Technical Consultant at UGC Consulting and was a Cartographer with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (Defense Mapping Agency) at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Before that, he was a Park Ranger with the National Park Service at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, and Gateway Arch National Park.

Steven is a Certified Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP) through the GIS Certification Institute and holds an FAA Part 107 remote pilot certification. He received the Faculty Career Champion Award from DU’s Career and Professional Development Office, and the National Geographic Society Certificate of Appreciation from the National Geographic Society.

Helping Students Be Successful

At DU, Steven teaches introductory and advanced GIS, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), project management, crime mapping and analysis, cartography, and spatial statistics. He also supervises numerous GIS Capstone projects, the final work designed and implemented by GIS graduate students.

Bio

Heather Hicks is a geospatial leader with 30 years of experience in driving spatial transformations in industry and government applications. She has a background in environmental and natural hazard applications and how spatial technologies lead to process improvements and deeper understanding of spatial interactions. She has been a GISP since 2009.

Professional Background

Heather currently serves as the head of the GIS and Geomatics department for an independent energy company. She oversees a diverse team of geospatial professionals, providing strategic direction and implementing spatial projects for multiple business units and corporate groups. In addition to her department responsibilities, Heather is the founder of the Civitas Women’s Network, an internal organization to promote the visibility and interests of women in our community. Previously, she worked for the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, coordinating GIS programs and projects across the state.

Education

Heather holds a B.S. in Geology from the University of Delaware, a B.A. in Geography from the University of Delaware, an M.S. in GIS from the University of Denver, and her Ph.D. in Watershed Science from Colorado State University.

Helping Students be Successful

Heather enjoys mentoring students to envision their potential through investigating spatial applications and developing solutions to investigate their world. She focuses on the holistic geospatial and systemic perspectives to explore geography and create novel approaches to information creation.

Bio

Joseph Kerski is a lifelong geographer with experience in all four major sectors of society–nonprofit organizations, private industry, government, and academia. He is passionate about all things geospatial in education, through podcasts (Thinking Spatially), videos (Our Earth channel with over 6,000 videos), 150 chapters and articles, 1,000 lessons, and 11 books authored or co-authored.

Education

Joseph earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Colorado.

Professional Background

Joseph currently serves as Education Manager for Esri, the world’s largest provider of GIS software and solutions. He visits 35 campuses each year around the world and gives hundreds of online presentations and short courses, promoting and supporting GIS and spatial thinking in multiple disciplines in schools, colleges, museums, libraries, and universities. He has also worked for NOAA, the US Census Bureau, USGS, and served as president of the National Council for Geographic Education.

Joseph has given two TED talks on the “Whys of Where” and has received two lifetime achievement awards for his work in GIS in education. His research focuses on the implementation and effectiveness of GIS in instruction.

Motivation for Teaching

Joseph believes that spatial thinking and the use of geotechnologies is more than a wonderful and in-demand career pathway–it is absolutely essential for building a more equitable, resilient, and sustainable world. To solve our complex and troublesome 21st Century challenges requires people who can think holistically, spatially, and critically.

Helping Students Be Successful

Joseph is firmly committed to helping students become empowered to make smart decisions in their academic journey and in their future career pathways in business, government, nonprofit, and academia through the use of geotechnologies. His instruction seeks to engage students in hands-on work with real-world issues that affect people and the planet.

Bio

Chris Leatherman is a GIS and drone professional with years of experience in mapping studies. He has worked with hundreds of students leading them to become professional drone pilots in their field of study.

Education

Chris earned a Bachelor of Science from Black Hills State University, his first Master of Arts from the University of South Dakota, and a second Master of Geographic Information Studies from American Sentinel University.

Professional Background

Chris has worked as a GIS specialist with the City of Gillette Wyoming for nearly two decades. He provides mapping services for groups in the City. Chris manages web applications used by City staff in their daily tasks. As of 2023, he is leading the development of a City drone program. This new service will assist the police with their duties, aid in inspections of critical City infrastructure and map active construction projects.

Motivation for Teaching

Chris has a passion for drone technology and how it can be used to make the world a better place. He strongly believes drones can help people solve complex problems by collecting high-quality and inexpensive data from a bird’s eye perspective. The data can help decision-makers better manage resources to the benefit of all.

Helping Students Be Successful

Chris provides his students with the skills and knowledge they need to become professional drone pilots. Students can apply these skills in their area of interest. Drone mapping is an excellent tool for creating invaluable data that can answer questions and guide decision makers. Chris believes everyone should have access to drones. He is readily available via email and virtual office hours to answer questions and provide guidance.

Bio

Brian Legge has worked in the utility industry as a GIS analyst for over 10 years. Skilled in ArcGIS, Python, HTML, Leaflet, and SQL, he has utilized GIS to find ways to make gas pipeline operations safer. He has held increasingly prominent positions at organizations including EN Engineering and Black Hills Energy. He has a deep understanding of how to automate GIS processes and the importance of utilizing GIS to make a safer place for work crews.

Education

Brian earned his B.A. in Asian Studies from Carthage College, and his M.S. in Cartography and GIS from the University of Wisconsin Madison.

Bio

Lee Mitchell is a researcher with the Oregon Institute of Technology’s AIRE Center. She currently leverages her background in applying geospatial technologies to support decision-making in order to explore differential risks and responses to climate hazards. She is exploring health impacts from wildfire smoke, wildfire smoke risks across Oregon and strategies to encourage people to take protective action during wildfire events.

Education

Lee earned a B.S. in Natural Resource Management from Northern Arizona University. She earned a Master of Science in GIS and Remote Sensing from Mississippi State University. She earned a Ph.D in Learning Technologies from Florida State University.

Professional Background

Lee has over a dozen years of professional experience using GIS to support decision-making across disciplines, from disaster management to agricultural research. She enjoys sharing lessons learned from these experiences with students to help them develop the practical skills they will need to succeed in the field and realize their goals. Lee enjoys working with students and is readily available to talk with them to stay engaged even during asynchronous courses.

Bio

Sabina Pavlovska has taught at Colorado State University, University of Denver, University of Colorado, the American University in Bulgaria and Hastings College in Nebraska. She teaches courses on International Organizations (IOs), The EU, Democratization, Civil Society, The Rule of Law, Anti-Corruption and Gender issues. Sabina’s research revolves around the influence of IOs on domestic politics with respect to the rule of law.

Sabina holds a Ph.D. in International Studies from the University of Denver. She also earned an M.A. degree in Political Science (Sofia University in Bulgaria) and International Relations (University of Denver).

Sabina aims to develop students into critical and responsible thinkers who are aware of the impact of their actions, thoughts, and writings on others and especially on those who are underprivileged. She strives to graduate well-rounded, competitive and engaged citizens who work to improve the social and natural environment in which we all live.

Sabina’s achieves her teaching goals by managing her classroom as a community in which all students are learners and teachers, by relying on experiential learning, and by teaching diverse content. Sabina is readily available via email and virtual office hours to answer questions and provide guidance.

Bio

Shannon Sprott is a long-time member of the GIS community providing GIS and GPS services for over 20 years to many organizations, from local county government to non-profits. She has a great passion for the work she does within both the GIS industry and the classroom.

Professional Background

Shannon currently works as a contract GIS specialist for the USGS where she gets to work on current updates to the PAD-US (Protected Areas Database – US) database layers. Previously, she worked for 10 years as the GIS/GPS coordinator for the Rocky Mountain Biological Research Laboratory providing GIS and GPS support to staff, visiting research scientist and students alike. The start of her GIS career was working as the GIS technician for 10 years for Gunnison County, where she was able to assist in critical dataset creations such as newly created parcels, and E911 addressing data for emergency services.

Helping Students Be Successful

Shannon enjoys the diversity of her GIS work in life but thrives most when in the classroom and guiding others in learning about spatial data concepts, database creation, and the overall joy of map making. Her attentiveness and time put into her courses helps students to feel supported and confident when learning new software platforms. Shannon teaches her students introductory GIS concepts, geospatial technologies, geodatabase applications and some environmental modeling such as hydrologic processes. Her core instructional materials will have them feeling prepared for future courses and careers as successful GIS professionals. She is readily available via email and virtual office hours to answer questions, provide guidance, and offer insights from the GIS, GPS, and Geospatial world.

Education

Shannon earned her B.A in Environmental Biology & Ecology from Western Colorado University and her M.S in Geographic Information Science from University College at the University of Denver.