I studied Environmental Science and GIS at UMD and selected the summer Tanzania program for the wildlife. One of my favorite parts of the program was learning about the culture and day to day life of the people in the area. After the program but before my graduation, I knew I wanted to work internationally to continue learning more about cultures around the world.

In my current role I work with conservation organizations and official statistics/census agencies globally, helping them implement GIS workflows. I would not have had the confidence to seek out an international travel job without the SFS program and I am hoping to travel back to Tanzania soon!

If anyone is interested in the GIS field or how to apply a conservation/environmental background in the corporate world, I am always happy to connect. I am in a pre-sales role at Esri which I’m sure would come as a surprise to 2017 me, but it has been a great fit.