MW Cartography and GIS
Consulting

While I was working on my Masters Degree I commenced on my GIS career path by providing GIS services to support Municipal Government for the City of Highland Village from 2002 to 2008.  My primary task was to build and maintain a Municipal Geographic Information System for the City which involved the following: 

While I worked at GHD Australia from 2008 - 2011 and GHD Canada from 2011 - 2013,  as a Senior Spatial Analyst, I acquired a highly diverse skill-set due to the volume and range of projects that I worked on. I had the opportunity to work with colleagues across 5 Business Sectors (Environment, Energy & Resources, Transportation, Water, Built Environment), to gain an understanding of the business practices of their clients in order to determine how GIS technology could create efficiencies and/or add value to the services that their service group provided. As a result, I effectively provided GIS Services for a wide range of GHD clients which I have highlighted in this GIS Consulting Project Experience Section.  During my tenure I had the opportunity to work on 300+ projects to achieve the following:

I resumed working in an Academic role from 2014 - 2024 when I was hired to work for the School of Environment and Natural Resource Sciences (SENRS) at Fleming College as a GIS Professor, primarily teaching Spatial Analysis I and II, Geovisualization I, II and III (cartographic design techniques), Municipal Mapping and GIS, GIS Survey Camp Total Station or Levelling modules, and Remote Sensing (for a few semesters) for the GIS Post Diploma Program.   I also taught for other programs at the College including: Geomatics in Surveying (field survey techniques) for the Environmental Technician Program, GIS Applications in Urban Forestry for the Urban Forestry Program and Fundamentals of Geomatics for the Common First Semester.  

One of the courses that I was assigned to teach at Fleming College was a Municipal Mapping and GIS course. In 2017, to further support the course learning outcomes of Municipal Mapping and GIS, within a real-world context, I created a Municipal Mapping Micro-Project to foster a learning environment for students and orient them with how Municipal GIS works in the real world.  In order to do so, I connected small groups of students with municipal GIS professionals, whom they selected from a pool of Ontario municipalities that had availability to support the project.  They gathered data via a survey that I created to assist students in acquiring comparable data related to what GIS software is utilized; how GIS services are delivered,  in what format, to whom and for what purpose.  Following receiving the survey feedback, a face-to-face meeting was organized, either on-site or virtually, to give the students an opportunity to ask questions , learn more and meet a real-world GIS professional. Once the students met with the municipal GIS professional I supported them in the delivery of a map product of their choice.  In some instances, this involved innovation in creating a map product that had not been created for the municipality in the past and in others, the students were asked to improve upon an existing map or series of maps. Between 2017 and 2024, I collaborated with the Municipal Mapping students and numerous GIS professionals, who worked with the twenty Ontario Municipalities which are highlighted in this Municipal Mapping and GIS Micro-Project Section.

I joined the GIS Faculty Team at BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology) in May 2025 as a full-time GIS Faculty member to teach courses in the GIS Post Diploma Advanced Certificate Program.  In the 2025-2026 Academic Year I am teaching GIS Computing and the Internet, Spatial Analysis, ArcGIS 3: Customization and Modeling, and serve as an Advisor for the GIS Practicum Projects.

My application for the Student Assistant for 2003 Esri International User Conference opportunity was supported by the UNT Faculty and GIS Center for Spatial Analysis Lead while I was a student working on my Masters Degree in Applied Geography. Students help Esri staff with attendee registration, technical session monitoring, conference logistics, and the Esri Store.  The duration of the role was limited to the 2003 Esri International UC. It was not a technically paid role but provided compensation in kind which included Conference Registration, Hotel Accommodation and per diem.  It is now classified as 'employment'.  The article, Esri Student Assistantship Program: Everything You Need to Know to Apply sums it up. This was the first Esri UC I attended.   It was an invaluable experience and I encourage students to apply. 

My role as a GoGeomatics Peterborough Group Leader (2018-2021) involved supporting networking for professionals, students, entrepreneurs, and academics in the field of Geomatics by communicating with the group, organizing monthly meetings with Guest Speakers who present on topics about GIS (i.e. Surveying, Mapathons, Geocaching, Industry Applications, Open Source, anything Geospatial) and promoting the events through social media.      While serving as the GoGeomatics Peterborough Group Leader she organized monthly meetings for students and GIS Professionals to learn from and network with Guest Speakers from the GIS industry (MNRF, PCI Geomatics, J.D. Barnes Ltd./First Base Solutions Inc./OnSite Locates Inc, Esri Canada, Region of Durham, GM BluePlan, Airborne Imaging, Avenza, City of Peterborough GIS) to support GIS networking opportunities in the local community.  Learn more about GoGeomatics Volunteer Opportunities and Professional Networking Events

As Eastern Section Director of BeSpatial Ontario, I volunteered with the Board of Directors and Committees to bring GIS Industry education, career development events and networking opportunities to students and GIS Professionals in Eastern Ontario from 2019-2023.  This involved organizing and hosting the 2023 Eastern Section 'Learn What I Learned' Regional Event, took place in Kingston, Ontario, at Queens University Donald Gordon Event and Conference Center on June 29, 2023.  BeSpatial News

As Canadian Cartographic Association (CCA) Mapping and Spatial Data Strategies Chair (2022-current) I serve on the Executive Committee, attending monthly meetings, providing feedback and supporting Conference Events including the more recently introduced CCA Webinar Series. I also serve as a Co-Editor of the CCA Cartouche Newsletter (2023-current), editing articles submitted by CCA Members and CCA Conference Presenters. I designed the front covers of the 100th, 101st, and 50th Anniversary editions, and designed the layouts for the 101st and 50th Anniversary editions. Past Cartouche issues are available to the public.  The issues are available at this link: CCA Cartouche