PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
March 2014
207
If you had all the money and time in the world, what
would you be doing right now?
Living on a ranch near Yellowstone National Park doing
photography and making sure my dogs were able to go
everywhere with me. I would stay active in the industry by
continuing to attend conferences and mapping my photo-
graphic adventures.
What drew you to a career in the geospatial industry?
When my undergraduate advisor asked me what I wanted
to do when I graduated, I said I wanted to do anthropology
with a GPS unit on my back, a camera around my neck
and a GIS enabled computer. I thought it would be great
to photographically record cultures and to use GIS to
document how the people in that culture interacted with
their environment. The opportunity to work in the modern
geospatial industry was a logical transition. In many
ways it can be viewed as working with our current culture
rather than an antiquated culture in a remote location.
I thought it would be great to photographically record
people and to use GIS to document how the people interact
with their environment. Working at Photo Science, a
Quantum Spatial Company, is my dream job on steroids.
The GPS unit is on the “back” of a plane and the camera is
in the belly of the aircraft. I can travel virtually to many
locations by viewing the imagery and I occasionally am
able to travel to the actual locations as a sensor operator.
Describe your job in five words.
Metadata, Flight Planning, Sensor Operator.
How do you describe your job to others?
I make maps at an aerial survey company. I ask them if
they use Google Earth or Bing Maps and point out that the
imagery base map in some locations is imagery I worked
on creating and acquiring. At this point I usually start
showing them camera phone photographs of the planes,
mobile mapper, sensors, and some unique skylines I have
seen from planes. I tell them that although I have used my
personal digital camera for work photography, our cam-
eras are much larger. I also explain that since I have the
opportunity to acquire data, I have two desks -- one just
happens to be in a plane -- but when I am out of the office
flying, I still have to complete my in-office tasks. If we are
outside, I will look up and tell them if it is or isn’t a good
day for remote sensing based on cloud cover.
What is your favorite ASPRS member benefit? Or what
is the one thing you value most about your membership
with ASPRS?
I originally joined for access to
PE&RS
. I still look forward
to receiving my copy in the mail because it is my link to the
profession. Although I typically am only on the acquisition
side of remote sensing,
PE&RS
provides content that
broadens my horizons by exposing me to more than simply
acquisition. It is always exciting to see how the information
created is used in a final product. And, reading
PE&RS
also allows me to consider how other individuals use the
data I help to create and, based on that, how I might make
it more useful to them. The news about potential or actual
changes in the profession and information about evolving
technology is also interesting and useful.
The workshops and webinars are a tremendous source
of information. The webinar series is particularly use-
ful to me because I do not have the budget to travel. I
attended what I believe was one of the very first webinars
– Preparing for ASPRS Certification – in 2009. I enjoyed it
so much I attended several others.
What does your ASPRS membership mean to you? How
has it impacted your work and influenced your career?
I am proud to be a member of ASPRS; they set the stan-
dards for my job. Although I was initially too intimidated
to participate, I started with a book review and now I am
trying to figure out on which committee I can be the most
effective. No matter with which committee I choose to
work, ASPRS has given me the opportunity to network
with other professionals in the industry and has provided
me with access to actually help write these standards.
Why did you join the ASPRS Young Professionals Council?
After becoming a URISA Vanguard Cabinet member,
I heard about Young Professionals Council (YPC) and
wanted to investigate. While I was talking with Ekaterina
Fitos about it to take the information to my boss but she
skipped a few steps and invited me to join. I was thrilled!
And, being able to interact with Kim Tilley and Jim Plasker
made joining YPC even better. I am really looking forward
RYAN BOWE
I N T E R V I E W
The Young Professionals Council liason
gives insight into her life as a professional
GIS technician, and the benefits of being
an ASPRS member.
