by Bob Grant
ST. LOUIS — The Taylor Geospatial Institute launched its Geospatial Career Guide Series by welcoming students, professionals, and anyone else interested in exploring geospatial careers to listen and engage in the first installment on September 14, 2023. The goal of this monthly webinar series is to gather people on the precipice or in the early stages of a career in geospatial science to hear from geospatial professionals about their personal career journeys, their tips for finding one’s path in the field, and how their organizations think about hiring.
Our guest for this installment was Nadine Alameh, Ph.D. Dr. Alameh is Executive Director of the Taylor Geospatial Institute (TGI), a role she began in September 2023. She has a remarkable geospatial career that has spanned government, industry, the nonprofit sector, and academia. Most recently, she served as CEO of the Open Geospatial Consortium. Earlier in 2023, Dr. Alameh was honored with a Women in Technology Annual Leadership award, which honors female leaders whose achievements, mentorship, and contributions advance women in technology from the classroom to the boardroom.
Dr. Alameh dispensed scads of useful advice on launching a career in geospatial science to an audience of more than 30 people, some of whom were tuning in from countries outside the US. “I would definitely say trust your instinct…when you are in a situation, and it’s not going how you expected it to go, say something,” Dr. Alameh said in response to an attendee who asked her to share something that she learned the hard way in her geospatial career. “Communicate your concerns. Communicate your recommendations. Communicate your new ideas. The worst thing they can say, ‘Oh, thank you very much, I got it.’ But sometimes you could actually make an impact beyond your role. And that’s how you rise as a star.
The next installment of TGI’s Geospatial Career Guide Series will take place on October 12, 2023, at 12:00 PM, Central. Our guest for that webinar will be Matt Dimmic, Director of Science Modeling at the Climate Corporation. Register to reserve your spot!
