Where Are They Now?

Bret Mittelstaedt	Location:	Cedar Rapids, Iowa
as of February '12	Employer:	Power System Engineering
	Title:	Engineering Technician
	Description:	I work with Rural Electric Cooperatives, Municipal Utilities, and Investor-owned utilities to design overhead and underground electrical distribution projects. Some of the things I do include completing field surveys, line staking, GPS inventory and data collection, system mapping, project design, and updating engineering models
	Other:	PSE is a great company to work for. They are small, but growing, and really value their employees. Although I wouldn't have thought of this as a job for a GEO grad, I use what I learned while attending school on an almost daily basis. I would like to thank the GEO/ESC faculty and staff for providing an excellent foundation for my career. If I could provide one piece of advice for current students, it would be to do at least one internship while at UW-L and really apply yourself while interning. The real-world experience will definitely give you a leg up on your competition in the job search.

Jameson Loesch	Location:	Madison, Wisconsin
as of March '12	Employer:	Cardno JFNew
	Title:	Ecological Resource Specialist
	Description:	My primary responsibilities include spatial data acquisition/creation, management, and analysis for many of Cardno JFNew's environmental based GIS and mapping projects. Often, I also work with project managers and clients to develop custom GIS tools, in order to standardize analysis and increase efficiency. During the field season, I also spend a lot of my time out conducting wetland delineations, endangered species surveys, wetland mitigation bank monitoring, botanical inventories, as well as provide technical assistance through the utilization of GPS and mobile mapping devices. I should also add the not so fun stuff that I have to do here and there includes writing reports and permit applications.

Adam Prell	Location:	Bakersfield, California
as of November '10	Employer:	Kern County Fire Department
	Title:	GIS Technician II
	Description:	I work for the Kern County Fire Department in Kern County, California. Kern County is 1/6 the size of Wisconsin at 8,300 square miles. I took an internship to work with the Student Conservation Association doing fire prevention and education work with the local Bureau of Land Management in Kern County the summer after graduating from UW-L. I found a job working with Fire Planning and GIS with our Wild-land Fire division and have been doing a county-wide, wild-land pre-fire plan mapping project along with GIS database management and wild-land fire response as a GIS Specialist. I made it to my first two fires last summer. Fire GIS is the best job out there! It's intense. I am currently working hard against the bad budget times here in California to nab a permanent position either here or with another natural hazard planning and response entity.
	Other:	I've been spending my free time exploring the wonders of the Southwest including this last summer climbing Mt. Whitney and Half Dome in Yosemite! I'm currently applying for USC's Master's in GIS Program to further my GIS knowledge. I miss the La Crosse area dearly, the people here just aren't the same!

Class of 2007

Sam Hildebrand	Location:	Joliet, Illinois
as of October '10	Employer:	Forest Preserve District of Will County
	Title:	GIS Technician
	Description:	Living on the fringe of Chicagoland, I am responsible for maintaining our GIS real estate/property records, updating our real estate GIS website utilizing ArcGIS Server and Adobe Flex, collecting and maintaining amenity information in our preserves, and some general GIS support for more than a dozen users of GIS in the district.
	Other:	I really miss living in La Crosse and Wisconsin! I really miss Oktoberfest, marching band, and my time spent outside Geography in the Music department. I hope to move back there and find a job someday. I continued my education from La Crosse with a graduate certificate in GIS from UW-Milwaukee and an internship with Milwaukee County. I am currently taking some programming classes at Joliet Junior College in HTML, Javascript, and Visual Basic. Hope everyone is doing well!

Cody Jenson	Location:	Overland Park, Kansas
as of January '10	Employer:	Garmin International
	Title:	Cartography Technician
	Description:	As a cartographer in the Recreational Cartography department we focus on products such as TOPO U.S. 24K, Inland Lakes, LakeMaster, Approach golf maps, among many others. We compile raw data and implement it into various map products for consumer purchase to load onto compatible Garmin GPS units. We are involved in nearly every step of product compilation from collecting the data, running processes to make it fit our specifications, editing and quality control, and finally building the maps to be sent to administration and production. It is very rewarding watching a product move from an idea to a final product.
	Other:	We have slowly been pulling more and more UWL alums down to Kansas City, pretty soon we'll be a majority in the cartography group as a whole. Many other Wisconsin and Minnesota students have found their way down as well. Garmin is a great company to work for and Kansas City is a fun town to live in. If anybody ever has any interest in a career with Garmin feel free to contact me through the geography department at UWL my email should be on file.

Kate Meyer	Location:	Montevideo, Minnesota
as of May '09	Employer:	Upper Minnesota Valley Regional Development Commission (UMVRDC)
	Title:	Community Development Planner
	Description:	Updating county-wide zoning ordinances, Creating/updating maps in GIS, Community Organizing, Leading Task Forces, Updating five county-wide hazard mitigation plans.... at the moment. The organization I work for takes care of planning needs for five counties and their respective communities in rural Western Minnesota.  This tends to make job duties ever-changing to meet the needs of any type of project that a community/county may encounter.
	Other:	Hello Fellow Geo-People, I recently graduated from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities with a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning (MURP).  If any of you are interested in career track (planning) feel free to contact me with questions and I will be more than happy to provide some advice.... I really loved my time at La Crosse and I miss it often. Geo Club did some crazy things back then..... creating pet rocks and selling them (for a profit!), Relay for Life events, geo-caching, and bluff clean-ups.  I only hope that you all have a fantastic time as I did and have good luck in the future, Kate

Clair Sweeney	Location:	St. Paul, Minnesota
as of November '09	Employer:	St. Catherine University
	Title:	Student
	Description:	Currently going through the Master of Arts in Holistic Health Studies program while working at the library on campus.

Class of 2006

Liz Werdermann	Location:	Manitowoc, Wisconsin
as of July '09	Employer:	City of Manitowoc
	Title:	GIS Technician
	Description:	I work for the City of Manitowoc, in the Planning Department. I update spatial data layers and create maps for my own department, including others such as Fire, Police and Building Inspection.
	Other:	I miss my fellow GeoClub friends and classmates! We had some crazy times! I would love to reconnect if I haven't talked to you in awhile!

Class of 2005

Kevin Duffy	Location:	La Crosse, Wisconsin
as of May '13	Employer:	Gundersen Health System
	Title:	Clinical Informaticist
	Description:	Design and maintain communications between the various applications and vendors that are used in support of the electronic health record.
	Other:	Along with working at Gundersen, I was previously employed by the UW-L Geography Department as an Associate Media Specialist supporting the GIS labs and maintaining this website. While at the University, I had numerous opportunities to join in on Department field trips with fellow Geography faculty and students. Recent U.S. road trips include: Northern Wisconsin, New York City, Washington D.C., the Civil War Battlefields, the Great Lakes and New England, the Grand Canyon and Utah's National Parks, the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, the Black Hills, and two trips to Alaska. I've also had the chance to visit Canada, Iceland, Denmark, and the United Kingdom over the last few years. I was also fortunate enough to be a part of Gundersen's Global Partners Tanzania team in 2012. The primary mission involved aiding the local population with their medical needs by providing surgical procedures and wellness checks. While there, I also took the opportunity to see Kilimanjaro, Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Victoria, Zanzibar, and visited a Maasai village. It is an amazing place with amazing people! So fellow alumni... keep sending in updates. It's always fun to see where your Geography degree has taken you.

Jen Evans	Location:	Ellensburg, Washington
as of August '12	Employer:	Stell Environmental Enterprises Inc.
	Title:	Land Rehabilitation and Maintenance (LRAM) Coordinator Joint Base-Lewis McChord Yakima Training Center (JBLM-YTC)
	Description:	The primary goal of Land Rehabilitation and Maintenance (LRAM) is to maintain a sustainable, realistic training environment through damage prevention and repair. Damage preventions can be accomplished through training area redesign or reconfiguration to provide training realism while minimizing risk to natural and cultural resources. Damage repair is accomplished by applying best management practices consistent with continued military use.
	Other:	Recently finished my Masters of Science in Resource Management (natural/cultural) at Central Washington University. I will be getting married in October 2012!

Class of 2003

Gretta Resch	Location:	Champaign, Illinois
as of March '11	Employer:	Illinois State Water Survey (University of Illinois)
	Title:	GIS Specialist
	Description:	I am on a team of GIS Specialists and Engineers that are updating FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps for the entire state of Illinois. The GIS team takes engineering data and best available topography to delineate the areas of floodplain risk where drainage areas have been altered due to development in the landscape. It's been a rewarding learning experience. I also work with several other University of Wisconsin alum, so we must be doing something right!
	Other:	I was married in 2008 (Greta Buckley) and have my first baby due April 29, 2011.

Class of 2001

Johnathon Xiong	Location:	St. Paul, Minnesota
as of November '10	Employer:	USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
	Title:	Cartographer
	Description:	Assist with regional quality control check of Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSRUGO).
	Other:	Hold a collateral position as the Asian American/Pacific Islander Special Emphasis Program Manager (AAPISEPM) for Minnesota NRCS where I help out with outreach and/or recruitment of AAPI students to our agency.

Class of 2000

Jason Williams	Location:	West Allis, Wisconsin
as of May '13	Employer:	City of West Allis
	Title:	Assistant City Accessor

Class of 1998

Brian Skerven	Location:	Tucson, Arizona
as of June '10	Employer:	Logan Simpson Design
	Title:	GIS/Graphics Manager
	Description:	I oversee a group of six GIS and Graphics professionals at our Tempe, AZ headquarters.
	Other:	I earned my GISP in 2009, enjoy hiking and traveling in the desert southwest and in my spare time I make the best mesquite mead in Tucson

Class of 1996

Gretta Luedeke	Location:	Annapolis, Maryland
as of April '10	Employer:	USDA
	Title:	GIS Specialist
	Description:	State GIS Specialist for MD & DE
	Other:	Currently residing in MD and enjoying all that Maryland and DC has to offer!!

Class of 1985

Ken Kapecki	Location:	Libertyville, Illinois
as of June '09	Employer:	Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP
	Title:	Senior Manager
	Description:	Real estate consulting

Class of 1983

David Else	Location:	Waukesha, Wisconsin
as of April '12	Employer:	Department of the Army
	Title:	Supervisor, human Terrain Specialist
	Description:	Led small teams to conduct socio-cultural research in combat zones to support military decision making.
	Other:	Dr. Bob Wingate kept my passion for Geography alive.

Class of 1979

Toby Lee	Location:	Tomah, Wisconsin
as of June '11	Employer:	TomTom
	Title:	Regional Manager
	Description:	While attending UW-La Crosse, I began a long career as a Geographer and manager with the US Census Bureau. I left the Census Bureau in 2000 and started working with Tele Atlas/TomTom. I currently manage data sourcing for our Canadian database.

Paul Schubring	Location:	Rolla, Missouri
as of December '09	Employer:	Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T)
	Title:	Management Analyst
	Description:	2000 - present Adjunct Faculty, Computer Science, Central Texas College 1978 - 2006 U.S. Geological Survey, Information Technology Specialist, Cartographer, Geographer.
	Other:	I have lived in the Missouri Ozarks since 1980 where I enjoy riding motorcycles, hiking, canoeing, geocaching, and volleyball.

Class of 1970

Greg Chu	Location:	Houston, Texas
as of July '12	Employer:	Retired from UWL-Department of Geography/Earth Science
	Title:	Professor Emeritus
	Other:	Enjoying time with my granddaughter and expecting a second granddaughter in September, 2012.