Interviews with Geographers

Geographically trained professionals work in all different fields, using their geographic knowledge and skills to complete their job. These individuals have some background or degree in geography during their undergraduate or graduate studies.

Non-geographically trained professionals (those without a college degree in geography) work in a variety of different fields and use geographic knowledge and skills to complete their job as well! Here are some individuals who don't have a degree in geography, but still use it everyday.

Organized into the six career paths, below are three different types of interviews that have been conducted with professionals in a variety of fields. There is overlap among interviews and across career paths.

Spotlight: Powerful Geography Video Interviews. Conducted by Dr. Joann Zadrozny
Spotlight: Powerful Geography / American Association of Geographers (AAG) Video Interviews. Conducted by Dr. Thomas Larsen
Voices from the Field: Written interviews from AAG Career Profiles (externally linked)

Building Path

Business Path

Creative Path

Health Path

Helping Path

Nature Path

Building Path

Voices from the Field: Program Manager, Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit at Ohio Development Services Agency - Lisa Brownell

Voices from the Field: Senior Lead GIS Analyst, Department of Public Property, City of Philadelphia - Richard Quodomine

Voices from the Field: Assistant Professor of City and Regional Planning, The Ohio State University; former Research Director, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (2011-2017) - Yasuyuki (Yas) Motoyama

Business Path

Geographically Trained

Spotlight: Agriculture Appraiser - Chris Anderson, Syracuse, New York (still to come)

Non-Geographically Trained

Spotlight: Fashion CEO of Fashion by and Entrepreneur - Matt Swinney, Austin, Texas

Voices from the Field: Geospatial Consultant and participant in the Business Insights & Analytics Leadership Development Program at Travelers Insurance - Tracy Whelen

Non-Geographically Trained

Voices from the Field: Founder and President, Applied Field Data Systems - Ashok Wadwani

Creative Path

Non-Geographically Trained

Spotlight: Fashion CEO of Fashion by and Entrepreneur - Matt Swinney, Austin, Texas

Spotlight: Musician and Educator - Lee Redfield, Austin, Texas

Geographically Trained

Voices from the Field: Manager of Editorial Development at ABC-CLIO - Julie Dunbar

Health Path

Geographically Trained

Spotlight: Health Geographer- Naya Jones, Ph.D.

Geographically Trained

Voices from the Field: Research Scientist, New York State Cancer Registry - Frank Boscoe

Voices from the Field: Public Health Analyst, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps - Nancy Tian

Voices from the Field: Branch Chief Supervisory Statistician at the Treatment Services Branch, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - Suparna Das

Voices from the Field: Postdoctoral Intramural Research Training Awardee, National Institutes of Health - Xiaohui Liu

Helping Path

Geographically Trained

Spoltlight: Chaplin in the U.S. Army Reserve - Chris Anderson, Based in Syracuse, New York (still to come)

Geographically Trained

Voices from the Field: Vice President of Academic Affairs, United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) - Camelia Kantor

Voices from the Field: Subject Head of Geography, Milliken Mills High School, Markham, Ontario; Course Writer for Senior Geography, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario - Joanna Thompson-Anselm

Voices from the Field: Assistant Professor of Geography, University of Central Arkansas - Matt Connolly

Voices from the Field: Professor of Geography at Front Range Community College, Larimer Campus - Patrick Shabram

Voices from the Field: Assistant Professor of Geography, Kennesaw State University - Paul McDaniel

Voices from the Field: Professor Emeritus, California State University, Los Angeles, Department of Geosciences & Environment - Stephen Ladochy

Voices from the Field: Branch Chief Supervisory Statistician at the Treatment Services Branch, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - Suparna Das

Voices from the Field: Professor of Asian Pacific American Studies and Geography, Arizona State University - Wei Li

Non-Geographically Trained

Voices from the Field: Retired, Volunteer at Puerto Rico Rises, Dallas GiveCamp and Boy Scouts of America - Carlos Saavedra

Nature Path

Geographically Trained

Spotlight: Agriculture Appraiser - Chris Anderson, Syracuse, New York (still to come)

Non-Geographically Trained

Spotlight: Nature Warden - Paul Turner and Claire Foote Turner, Scotland

Spotlight: Precision Agriculture Farmer - Don Vilwock, Indiana

Geographically Trained

Voices from the Field: Defense Mitigation Consultant and Executive Director of the Coordinates Society - Julia Urbanik

Voices from the Field: Evaluation Consultant at Winrock International; Visiting Assistant Lecturer at University of New England, Department of Environmental Studies - Kate Bishop

Voices from the Field: GIS Manager, North Carolina Geospatial & Technology Management Office within NC Emergency Management - Hope Morgan

Voices from the Field: GIS & Imagery Specialist, USDA/Foreign Agricultural Service - Lisa Colson

Voices from the Field: Senior Caribbean Research Associate at Climate Analytics; Visiting Researcher, University of the Bahamas - Adelle Thomas

Voices from the Field: Research Geographer, U.S. Geological Survey - Melanie Vanderhoof

Voices from the Field: Research Geographer & Associate Director of the Eastern Geology and Paleoclimate Science Center at U.S. Geological Survey - Peter Chirico