A little bit about me

Where I am from

I was born and raised in Bowling Green, Kentucky to an American father and a German mother. It's a great place to raise a family and just up the road from Nashville.

I tend to have a lot of interests, but as a child, I was particularly fascinated by my dad's 1981 National Geographic World Atlas. After three semesters at Western Kentucky University, I realized I was truly passionate about geography.

My educational background

In May of 2020, I graduated from Western Kentucky University with Bachelor's degrees in Human Geography and German Language and Culture, as well as minors in mathematics and GIS. At first glance, it's an unusual combination of subjects, but each of them tie together well. My minors provided a much stronger quantitative and scientific backbone to my geography degree, while my German degree allowed me to experience more of the liberal arts side of things.

My areas of interest

My general areas of interest include cultural and historical geography, German-American culture, and human-environment interactions. In particular, I enjoy (and can spend a large amount of time) observing historical remote sensing imagery and land use change as well as the development and spatial diffusion of cities -- particularly in those I have resided. On the quantitative side, I tend towards being a fan of data (spatial) analysis, statistical programming, and mathematical optimization. I am often found combining these interests by incorporating census data with other data sources to explore various questions and trends in human geography.

What I used to do

Most recently, I worked at the Missouri House of Representatives as the GIS redistricting analyst. In this position, I assisted representatives with drafting congressional district plans and I provided all sorts of data figures from the 2020 US Census. I also helped update the House's web map API from the old Google Maps API to the Leaflet API, and I created 163 custom maps for each of the newly redistricted state house districts.

I have also worked at Warren County Public Works Division of Stormwater Management as a GIS services intern. Here, I had the opportunity to do various GIS related tasks for the department, and I learned a lot about database management by helping create the stormwater asset collection form that I later used to collect over 1000 stormwater assets across Warren County, KY.

What I am doing now

Currently, I am searching for a new position! Since my temporary position at the Missouri House of Representatives ended in July of 2023, I have been spending my time helping my family out with temporary health issues, traveling, and working part time as a freelance analyst.

My hobbies

Outside of work, I enjoy camping, cycling, disc golf, hiking, kayaking, photography, reading, spending time with my friends and family, traveling, and walking. Much of my love for the outdoors stems from my time in Boy Scouts of America (Troop 1079), where I spent a lot of time out in the sun at summer camp, learned some neat life and outdoor skills, and managed to obtain the rank of Eagle Scout: my eagle scout project was painting the historic Mentz Hotel in Park City, KY.

My Contact Information

I can best be found on Linkedin. Feel free to send me a message there and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Feel free to explore some photos from my travels. I recommend using the full screen functionality at the top-left part of the web map. The ribbon at the top-right contains bookmarks that will center the map extent directly on destinations.

Curious about the web map? You can create something similar following this tutorial.