Arial photography of Grandview High School in Hillsboro, MO. Data Source: Missouri Spatial Data Information Service; Map Produced by: Mark Corio

Almost every child dreams about what they want to do with their lives and what profession they would like to pursue. Frequent choices we hear, and may have dreamt of when we were younger, include astronaut, firefighter, and president of the United States of America. In the six years I worked for the Boy Scouts of America summer camp program before starting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service I don’t think I ever heard a child say, “I want to be a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Technician!” Because of this, I jumped at the opportunity to re-visit my old high school and speak to them about what I do with GIS for the Columbia National Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office. GIS is an extremely versatile and useful mapping and spatial analysis tool that can be applied to nearly every project, the only downfall is the education and experience required to become proficient with the program. While at the high school, I spoke with approximately 120 students about the education requirements, job roles, salary potential, and the benefits of working with GIS, and also of working with the Service. There was a little bit of confusion when I told them I didn’t work directly with fish, nor did I spend my days managing wildlife but the interest was high, as GIS is something many of the students had never heard of before.   Even a few teachers sat in with the students to come away with a better understanding of the program. The students were most interested in the map I made of their school using satellite imagery, and I heard some oohs and ahs when I displayed the infrared image of their football field. Explaining to the public how the Service integrates technology with field survey methods shows that we are trying to obtain the most accurate results more efficiently and more economically. But more importantly, instilling in young people an interest in working with and conserving the outdoors ensures that these natural resources will be around for their children and their grandchildren to enjoy as well.