GIS info interview
Mon Jan 24 2005 12:35 MST #My first real informational interview went pretty well this morning - I talked to a guy in the LANL GISLab.
Below is just what I recall of our talk, some notes so I remember details later.
It was interesting - they work on a ton of different projects. The team leader said they spend 100% of their time on their own projects (that they have gotten their own funding for) , and another 100% on providing GIS services for other people at the Lab.
It sounds like there is never the possibility of getting bored - there is too much to do, and always some new project coming up.
It sounds like they work overtime a lot though - it is a very deadline specific field, so deadlines must get met on time.
GIS is an analytical tool which can be applied to a million different fields, so it is quite multi-disciplinary in scope. One map he showed me had to do with solar energy and viticulture (aka grape growing). They had maps looking for any relatively recent geologic activity near Yucca Mountain. Other maps that look at erosion or fault activity in Los Alamos. Quite a variety indeed.
The best schools for GIS:
- UCSB (santa barbara)
- Penn State
- U Maine
- SUNY Stonybrook
The guy I talked to has a BS in Geology and recommended a higher degree for a place like LANL - it sounds like you have to really prove yourself to the GIS community otherwise, in terms of securing grants and stuff. They are rather PhD-centric in regards to that.
The other thing is that keeping his time organized is probably the biggest challenge - with so many projects and deadlines, you have to plan out what you will do when.
Satisfactions with career - you get to help define what GIS is
Rapidly growing field
The GISLab concentrates on environmental issues mostly - but GIS can be applied to all sorts of other aspects of geography as well. They mostly have backgrounds in physical geography or geology.