GIS in Action 2026

Hello! After graduating from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2015 with a double degree in Geography: Landscape Analysis & Climate Change Studies and Japanese Studies with a Minor in GIS, I moved to Japan for 4 years. While over in that lovely nation of rising suns, many earthquakes, and burping volcanoes, I worked as a Assistant Language Teacher through the JET Programme, then a staffmember at the Furano Tourism Association, and then finally as an Assistant Manager and translator at a local hotel. In late 2019, I returned to the United States with the intentions of revitalizing my withered "science brain" by attending graduate school and jumping into a scientific career. Like many, the Covid-19 pandemic threw me for a loop and delayed my plans. After a year in Juneau working for the NOAA Fisheries Regional Office as an Admin Assistant, a semester at OSU, and a year at PennState, I completed a Master's Certificate in Earth Observation and Remote Sensing! At the 2026 GIS in Action conference, I look forward to helping out where I can, happily surround myself with the sciences I intend to someday build a career with, and hopefully make a few new friends along the way!