Our GANS Social Spotlight continues, showcasing the people shaping Nova Scotia’s geomatics community.

Interested in being featured? Visit: https://lnkd.in/e8enpW84
(Keep in mind, you don’t need to be a GANS member!)

This week’s spotlight features Danielle Fife, recent graduate of the GIS Graduate Certificate program at the Centre of Geographic Sciences, NSCC.

Q: What made you decide to study geomatics?
Since completing an MSc at Acadia University, much of my work has been related to ecology and conservation (especially related to seabirds). In that work, knowing where animals go (e.g., during migration or foraging) is an important piece of the puzzle and is something that fascinates me. While I had experience deploying tracking devices on seabirds, I wasn’t familiar with the visualisation or analysis side of things. So, the GIS program at COGS seemed like a great opportunity to develop those skills. Plus, it seemed to fit both my love of organizing and of creating things!

Q: What did you work on for your final project?
I worked on tidying and mapping Eastern Loggerhead Shrike migration data for a non-profit NGO called Wildlife Preservation Canada. They provided me with multiple years of radio tag detections and resight data (i.e., reports of where banded birds have been spotted) that give an indication of where the birds are going in winter. It was a great project because I ended up using a lot of the different elements of what I had learned in each of my courses.

Q: Do you have any advice for future students?
Be as engaged as you can be! Ask the ‘dumb’ questions, participate in the classes, and don’t be afraid to reach out for help. Even though I wasn’t there in person, I found the instructors were all very approachable and supportive when I chatted with them online. Also be prepared to do a lot of troubleshooting and understand that this work can often be time-consuming and a little (ok a lot…) frustrating but so satisfying when you figure out how to do something and make something cool!