Geo-greetings from Rochester, NY!

[CatherineDuBreck]

Hi everyone!  My name is Catherine DuBreck and I am a GIS professional in the Upstate/Western NY area.  I have been in the GIS world since I took my first GIS class in 2014 during my undergrad program 10 years ago.  Since then, I got my BA and MSc in Geography, a certificate and micro-credential in GIST, and I am currently working on an A.A.S. in GIST because why not?!

I have GIS experience in the public (government, transportation planning, regional planning, municipal planning, education) and private (project management, consulting, change management) sectors and I work as a GIS Change Management Consultant full-time helping clients navigate the changes that come with migrating from ArcMap/geometric network to ArcGIS Pro/utility network.  I also work part-time teaching intro GIS as an adjunct at a local university and with my local community college to promote their new GIS programs and will be visiting a few different high school events this Spring to teach young students about GIS.  I sit on the Board of Directors for the NYS GIS Association and also volunteer on the NYS GIS Communications Committee. 

I am so happy to finally join the YPN and look forward to connecting with you all.  If you are near the Rochester, NY area, although we do not have a formal YPN chapter, there is an annual one-day GIS conference coming up hosted by the GIS/SIG (GIS Special Interest Group) that I wanted to share.  There are usually a couple Esri reps sharing the latest and greatest during the different sessions, and they have a booth with Globey and other swag 🙂 Any students that present a lightning talk can register for free and they are still accepting abstract submissions until 3/15.  I will be there and it's always a great time!  https://gis-sig.org/2024-conference/

[RosemaryBoone]

Hi @CatherineDuBreck - it's nice to meet you. Your GIS journey and experience is unique having worked in both private and public sectors and now being a GIS Change Management Consultant while teaching GIS part time! I particularly am inspired by your passion for outreach to high school students to teach GIS.

I placed the GIS conference to the YPN Events space to raise awareness of this event. Since the event is still accepting abstracts from students, I recommend posting that to the Esri YPN LinkedIn group as we have many students there! 

I am on Esri's Education Industry team as a Senior Marketing Manager and would love to keep your contact info handy as you're doing amazing work in the GIS education space. 

I've worked on success stories in the past with community colleges offering GIS microcredential (this story for example). Where did you get yours?  Also, what is an A.A.S. in GIST? 

I'm tagging some of my Education colleagues for visibility 😊 @JosephKerski @BrianBaldwin @Justin_Anderson @CharlieFitzpatrick 

[CatherineDuBreck]

So great to meet you and thank you!  I'm really excited to visit the high school students this year.  I helped facilitate a short GIS summer camp with some high school students a few summers ago and this spring will be visiting a career fair, a Women in STEM club, and a career prep class to make sure they all know GIS is a possible career path! 

I'd love to keep in touch and I will definitely post the conference to the LinkedIn group - thanks for suggesting that.  I got my microcredential from the community college highlighted in your story, Monroe Community College!  A.A.S. is an Associates in Applied Sciences and I'm working on that through MCC as well.  I also completed their certificate program in GIST.  They have 4 flavors of GIS programs and I help to promote their programs through social media/email blasts so you may see my name pass your desk more often 🙂 

[RosemaryBoone]

Hi Catherine- WOW that's great to know it's from MCC! Would you send me an email at rboone@esri.com or message me your email so I can connect with you? I am also an Esri YPN Advisory Board member and think that you would be a great contributor to our Mentorship space or a blog contributor. At any rate, let's connect!

[CatherineDuBreck]

Email sent, thank you!! 🙂

[JosephKerski]

Thanks Rosemary. Oh, I am a big fan of Dr. DuBreck. In fact, we just missed each other in November when I was teaching for one day at Monroe community college in NY. I salute you and all of your innovations 🌎🌲. Definitely keep in touch. Joseph Kerski 

[CatherineDuBreck]

Thank you, Joseph!  I appreciate your support and hope we can connect in person some day soon! 

[MafaldaBastosMoura]

But the conference will be or can be online?

[CatherineDuBreck]

It is an in-person conference this year with no online options at this time.  I am going to try to record my presentation though and can share if interested!