Kaytlin Colburn 2011

I first learned about Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as part of my coursework in Environmental Science at Sweet Briar. After graduation in 2011, I worked at an environmental consulting firm for a year before applying to graduate school as a way to kick start my career in GIS. I completed the grueling one year graduate program at The University of Redlands which is unique in its ties to a company called Esri, the folks behind ArcGIS, the most prolific enterprise GIS software used globally. Many of my professors at the university also worked at Esri.

After graduate school, I took a job in Houston using GIS to prepare offshore drilling operations with emergency response plans. My team and I deployed a completely disconnected GIS on an icebreaker ship that sailed up to latitude 82 (I got to see polar bears!). Then, I took a job with a company in Austin where I implemented field data collection applications in conjunction with enterprise transportation asset management systems. During the pandemic, I was inspired by the mapping that was being done to keep people safe and stay informed about the new virus. I reached out to my network and was able to land my dream job of configuring applications very similar to those Covid-19 dashboards we all became familiar with. I now work for Esri in their professional services department as a GIS technical consultant, building mapping applications for a wide variety of customers from departments of forestry to airports to state health departments. The primary objective of GIS technology is to make the most out of what we have - a central tenet of environmentalism I learned at Sweet Briar. I proudly fly the Sweet Briar flag outside my home office in Wimberley, Texas, just south of Austin.

I wouldn’t be where I am today if I wasn’t challenged to take a class I never would have taken otherwise to complete my degree at Sweet Briar. Because of the person Sweet Briar prepared me to be, I was able to complete a notoriously tough graduate program and create a professional network that enabled me to land the position I have now. I am forever grateful for the late (and great) Dr. Dave Orvos at Sweet Briar who encouraged me to explore the world, and Dr. Rebecca Ambers and Dr. Robert Alexander for teaching us how to care for the earth through policy and technology and become a beacon of hope in these challenging times for our environment and ourselves.