This latest installment of our series of interviews with Scholarly Commons experts and affiliates features Aaron King, GIS Consultant at the Scholarly Commons. Welcome, Aaron!
What is your background and work experience?
I am from Wisconsin originally, and studied Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. I focused on wolf and carnivore species populations in northern Wisconsin and in Yellowstone. Then my senior year, I stayed on to study Geography, which led to my career in GIS. I worked as a GIS analyst for one year while finishing up my geography degree. Afterwards, I worked at National Geographic in Washington D.C. Then, I worked as a GIS Analyst and Consultant for Intalytics in Ann Arbor, Michigan, while going to school for a Master’s in GIS and Bachelor of Science in Physics at Eastern Michigan University. I did a stint for Department of Defense in Madison, Wisconsin. Afterwards, I took time off to become a kayak guide, and decided to finish my schooling here at the University of Illinois.
Currently I work with Remote Sensing of the environment and geostatistics.
What led you to your field?
My background in environmental and climate science, as well as my love for geography led me into this field. I believe satellite data can be used a tool to expand this research and hopefully contribute to science and helping the world as a whole.
What is your research agenda?
I plan doing research on phenology, using a variety of data science methods. Additionally, I want to explore wildfire risk, and possibly look into health characteristics of greenspaces. Currently I am pursuing my Master’s, and I hope to continue my PhD here as well.
Do you have any favorite work-related duties?
When you get into research or your field, your knowledge blinders become very focused on what you are doing. Being in a position like this allows me to think past what I know, and explore areas of GIS that I normally do not think about, reflecting the endless possibilities of GIS. Plus, I just find it fascinating what other people are working on, and I love being part of it.
What are some of your favorite underutilized resources that you would recommend?
Programs for GIS outside of ESRI. There are a wealth of programs, free and open-source, that work just as well but are different than the standard ESRI programs. ESRI is a great option, but the amount of data and programs out there to help you with your problem is staggering. The other resource I would recommend in taking some coding lessons like through DataCamp, codeacademy, SoloLearn, or Lynda, because having that underlying knowledge of how programs work helps you understand.
If you could recommend only one book to researchers starting out in the GIS field, what would it be?
There are many great books about GIS. But the book you need to read to get into geography, which is the foundation of GIS, is How to Lie with Maps by Mark Monmonier.
Honorable mention: The Nature of Maps by Arthur Robinson and Barbara Bartz Petchenik.
Note: both books are available through the University Library, here and here.
What fields can use GIS research methods?
I had a professor, in my first class, ask us this same question. His answer was, “There is not a science or business that can’t utilize GIS in some way. Your job is to find it.”
Are there any big names in your field that people should know about?
Dr. Mei-Po Kwan (she works here, tell her I say hi), Dr. Waldo Tobler, Dr. Mathew Zook, William Morris Davis, Immanuel Kant, Arthur Robinson, Michael Jordan (seriously he studied geography, look it up!).
To schedule a consultation with Aaron, contact sc@library.illinois.edu.
