A slightly tongue in cheek, but still accurate take on what GIS in the real world is like. Presented to UWA GIS students in their third year, aiming to give them some understanding of what they'll face when they graduate - and also includes some career advice from the previous talk.

1. GAIA RESOURCES
“GIS in the real world”
Piers Higgs
Gaia Resources
Presented at UWA, 14th May 2012

2. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD

3. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD

4. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
What we will cover today
• A bit about Gaia Resources…
• What is a typical day in our office?
• What are some projects we‟ve worked on?
• What can you take from that?
• Some general career advice…

5. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Who are we?

6. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
A (Fri)day in the life…

7. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
What do we do?

8. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Conservation Commission Western Australia

9. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Conservation Commission Western Australia

10. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Conservation Commission Western Australia

11. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Conservation Commission Western Australia
1. First we had to interpret the values
in the original document
2. Then we had to come up with a
project plan
3. We had to gather a lot of data
4. We then followed the plan – use GIS to
create stats and make maps

12. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Telfer Mesa Investigations

13. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Telfer Mesa Investigations
“I’ve been looking at getting a
piece of work done for a
little while now and I’m
wondering if you guys have
the time / capacity to do it?
If you could have a look at
the attached scope and
let me know I’d appreciate it.
Give me a call to discuss any
time on the numbers below.”

14. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Telfer Mesa Investigations
1. Define the
surrounding area
2. Estimate the base
level
3. Determine height
of elevated
landforms
4. Then run on entire area…

15. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Telfer Mesa Investigations
1. Convince the client to use
a test area first
2. Come up with a solution and
way of replicating the model
3. Get approval from the client
4. Run it on the wider area

16. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Dieback Information Delivery & Management System
• Introduced disease, mainly
Phytophthora cinnamoni
• 40% of the State‟s plant
species are at risk
• 50% of the State‟s rare &
endangered species are
vulnerable
• “Biological Bulldozer”

17. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Dieback Information Delivery & Management System

18. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Dieback Information Delivery & Management System

19. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Dieback Information Delivery & Management System

20. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Dieback Information Delivery & Management System
1. Undertake requirements
analysis first
2. Make sure all the stakeholders
are happy
3. Create our specification for the
actual site
4. Build it!

21. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Dieback Information Delivery & Management System
• Large, complex
project
• Many different
stakeholders involved
• How much of this project
is what you think of when
you think about “GIS”?

22. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Atlas of Living Australia and Citizen Science

23. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Atlas of Living Australia and Citizen Science

24. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Atlas of Living Australia and Citizen Science
• Two and a half year
project all up
• Involved 12 staff
• Over $1 million in fees

25. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Some general pointers…
• “Domain knowledge” in your client‟s field is
important
• Understand and solve your client‟s problems
• Keep an eye on what the client is after at all times,
and deliver what they asked for
• Generally have a plan – and know when to vary it
• Maintain a sense of humour…

26. A CAREER WITH SPATIAL
So, would I recommend this roller coaster ride?

27. A CAREER WITH SPATIAL
What have I done? • Student
• Student • Field Assistant
• GIS Trainer • Data Manager
• Contractor • Ecologist
• GIS Programmer • Student
• Project Manager • Consultant
• Business Developer • Director

28. A CAREER WITH SPATIAL

29. A CAREER WITH SPATIAL
Some of the best bits?

30. A CAREER WITH SPATIAL
What got me there?
• I had a good reputation
• I understood “spatial”
• I understood “environment”
• I knew what I didn‟t know
• I was willing to learn
• The value of spatial was understood

31. A CAREER WITH SPATIAL
What got me there?
• I had a good reputation
• I understood what my clients do for a living
• I did the „right thing‟ by my clients
• I learned things I didn‟t understand
• Hired the right people – that share the same desires

32. A CAREER WITH SPATIAL
What advice would I give?
• Pick a stream…
Spatial Software
Engineering
Spatial Analysis

33. A CAREER WITH SPATIAL
What advice would I give?
• Pick a stream…
• Spatial Software Engineering – learn some
Computer Science principles and technologies
• Spatial Analysis – learn some domain knowledge in
an area you are interested in…
Geology Botany EIA (Murdoch)
Surveying Archaeology Biology
Geography Planning Coastal Geomorphology

34. A CAREER WITH SPATIAL
What advice would I give?
• You will not know everything you need to succeed
throughout your career by the end of University
“The learning and knowledge that we have, is, at the
most, but little compared with that of which we are
ignorant.” (Plato)

35. A CAREER WITH SPATIAL
What advice would I give?
• Your reputation is your biggest asset
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five
minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do
things differently.” (Warren Buffett)

36. A CAREER WITH SPATIAL

37. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD

38. GIS IN THE REAL WORLD
Questions?
• Ask away, or drop me a line…
Piers Higgs
piers@gaiaresources.com.au
0411 754 006