The ballot will close at midnight on June 12th.
https://forms.gle/BCY1RgkXbzS54nVb8 (opens in Google Forms)
Our candidates for Vice Chair for the 2019-2020 term are both state employees and will represent the State constituency if elected. Both are certainly well qualified and have a history of collaboration across the state’s GIS community.
Jane Schafer Kramer:
I am honored to accept the nomination to serve as Vice Chair of the California GIS Council as a member of the State Government constituency. I have been involved with the Council since it re-formed in 2015 and currently lead the Hydrography-NHD Workgroup.
I have worked for the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) since 2001, starting out as an Office Assistant. While employed I enrolled in the GIS Certificate Program at American River College and eventually shifted to a GIS Analyst career with DWR in 2008. Presently I am a Geographic Data Specialist serving as the Technical Lead for the California National Hydrography Dataset Stewardship Program. I have been active with the Northern California Chapter of URISA since 2013, serving as Board Member, Chapter President, and now Communications Chair. I’ve been involved with the planning of the annual CalGIS event and am currently the Program Chair for CalGIS 2020. In 2018 I received the California Geographic Information Association’s Advancement of Collaboration Award. I care deeply about my role as a public servant and am willing to devote time and energy to help the GIS Council make progress towards enabling “the California geospatial community to work together to develop, maintain and share accurate, consistent place-based information that is accessible to the general public and the agencies and organizations that serve them.”
Walker Wieland:
I’m a Research Scientist with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). I have ten years of experience working projects involving the intersection of GIS and public health. Most notably, I have helped to design and further CalEnviroScreen since the programs inception. I serve as OEHHA’s GIS lead, head up the Cal EPA GIS User Group, serve on the Cal EPA Open Data Steering Committee, and am President of my local Toastmasters club.
I believe communication and collaboration are essential to furthering GIS science in California. If elected as Vice-Chair, I will assist the Chair in collaborative efforts throughout the state to further our understanding, make our jobs easier, and empower the GIS community to expand how and why GIS work is done in California.