2025 Big Sky GeoCon - Mapping the Future: Innovations in Geospatial Technology: Directory

The Montana Association of Geographic Information Professionals (MAGIP) looks forward to your participation at this year’s 2025 Big Sky GeoCon!

Selita Ammondt

Ms. Ammondt is a GIS Analyst and Restoration Ecologist at River Design Group based in Whitefish, MT, a private consulting firm offering stream and wetland restoration and water resources engineering services. Selita specializes in geospatial analysis and cartography, and ecological restoration focusing on floodplain and wetland vegetation community design and rehabilitation.

Company River Design Group, Inc./SWCA
Position GIS Analyst

Pickett & Associates, LLC

Ms. Paris is a GIS Manager with more than 13 years of experience leveraging GIS solutions to solve real-world problems in the fields of engineering, surveying, environmental science, and geology. Ms. Paris designs GIS tools and strategies to optimize field mapping and data collection programs, streamline GIS workflows, and increase operational efficiency. Ms. Paris has expertise in implementing innovative data collection programs, including using mobile mapping and digital forms integrated with user-friendly dashboards and geospatial web applications. Ms. Paris leads and mentors GIS staff, developing... Read more

Company Pickett & Associates, LLC
Position GIS Manager
Location Bozeman, MT

Christian Black

Company Montana State University-Bozeman (Bozeman, MT)
Position GIS Manager
Location Bozeman

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Troy Blandford

Troy Blandford is responsible for water-relevant GIS data and information at the Montana State Library. In addition to stewarding the statewide hydrography dataset, Troy collaborates with state, federal, tribal, and local partners to obtain and make available lidar-derived, high-resolution elevation data. Troy also enjoys working with orthoimagery and co-leads the Montana Imagery Working Group.

Company Montana State Library Geographic Information
Position GIS Analyst - Water Info Lead
Location Troy Blandford

Ellysse Boughey

Company Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services
Position Maternal & Child Health Spatial Epidemiologist
Location Helena, MT

Kyle Burke

Kyle Burke is a GIS Manager with HDR Inc. based in Missoula, MT. He holds BAs in History and Anthropology from the University of Montana and a MS in Geographic Information Science and Technology from the University of Southern California. He has over 7 years as a GIS professional and previous experience working with the University of Montana/Army Corps of Engineers.

Company HDR Engineering/Montana State University
Position GIS Manager
Location Missoula, MT

Meghan Burns

Meghan Burns has been a GIS Analyst and the Administrative Boundary Theme Steward with the Montana State Library since 2015. As part of the Water Information Team, she helps manage data for the Elevation and Hydrography themes. She has served on the MAGIP Board of Directors as a Member-at-Large/Secretary for two years and a three-year term as the Vice President, President, and Past President. She is currently serving as the MAGIP Web Administrator.

Company Montana State Library
Position GIS Analyst
Location Helena, MT

Melissa Christie

Melissa Christie is a Senior Account Manager for NV5 Geospatial and lives in El Dorado Hills, CA. She has a BS in Geography and a minor in Geology from the University of Nevada, Reno. Melissa began her career in the public sector, working for USGS Water Resources Division, Washoe County, Nevada Parks & Rec and the National Park Service in San Francisco, CA. Over the past 25 years her geospatial career has evolved from photogrammetric mapping and orthoimagery processing and QC to project planning and geospatial business development. Melissa has been an active member in ASPRS for many years, serving... Read more

Company NV5 Geospatial
Position Senior Account Manager, West Coast
Location El Dorado Hills, CA

Bob Cochran

I am in my second year as a 9-1-1 GIS Analysist at the Montana State Library where my duties are primarily supporting statewide 9-1-1 GIS needs. Bob came to the State Library in late 2021 after 5 years at Montana Department of Justice and 10 years at Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Bob specializes in GIS analysis, workflows, and general GIS support.

I enjoy GIS development and new technology. Python, Arcade, and JavaScript is my jam.

Company Montana State Library

Curtis DeVault

Curtis has over ten years of experience developing and managing geospatial and relational database solutions. He is currently the GIS Administrator at Pickett and Associates. Using ArcGIS Pro, Survey123, Field Maps, SQL, and Python he has built and maintained data collection, analysis, and management solutions. He has expanded his GIS and database skills by teaching Advanced GIS and Spatial Analysis at Montana State university and volunteers his time as a UAV pilot and communications search and rescue volunteer.

Company Pickett & Associates, LLC
Position GIS Administrator
Location Bozeman, Montana

Michael Fashoway

Michael Fashoway is the GIS Land Information Lead at the Montana State Library where he leads the development and maintenance of Administrative Boundaries, Cadastral, Mapping Control, Structures/Addresses, and Transportation MSDI themes. He is also active in a state and national standards and advocacy organizations including: the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC), the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), the FGDC Address Subcommittee, and the Montana 9-1-1 Advisory Council.

Company Montana State Library
Position GIS Land Information Lead

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Claire Rawlings Gilder

Company University of Montana

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Joel Griffin, GISP

GIS evangelist specializing in enterprise GIS, asset management and utility network management. Am fascinated with integrating business systems with GIS and helping utilities become smarter, geoenabled organizations.

Company HDR Inc.
Position SR GIS Analyst
Location Folsom, CA

Elaine Guidero

I started my career at USGS as an applied researcher in the field of multi-scale cartography before becoming the National Map Liaison to Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. In graduate school, I studied the typography of cartography, and I really enjoy talking about fonts and map design.

Company U.S. Geological Survey
Position National Map Liaison
Location Denver, CO

Adam Hallberg

Company MSU

Jeff Hedstrom

Jeff Hedstrom is a GIS Analyst/Cadastral Theme Lead at the Montana State Library (MSL) and Past President on the MAGIP Board of Directors. His primary focus at MSL includes maintaining the Cadastral and CadNSDI datasets within the MSDI framework as well as maintaining metadata collections, developing GIS applications pertaining to his primary focus and collaborates with other MSL geographic information staff or other local/state government GIS employees within his discipline to help solve complex geographic problems. Prior to joining the MSL team, he was the GIS Coordinator for the City of Great... Read more

Company Montana State Library
Position GIS Analyst

John Hogland

Dr. Hogland is a Research Forester working for the Rocky Mountain Research Station. His research interests revolve around quantitative methods within geographic information systems (GIS) and understanding the relationships between landscape patterns and forested ecosystems processes. Current project include: 1) Quantifying forest characteristics at fine spatial scales, 2) designing, developing, and building new procedures that integrate machine learning and statistical modeling with fast raster processing (Function Modeling) to streamline spatial modeling and reduce storage space associated with... Read more

Company USDA FS RMRS
Position Research Forester
Location Missoula MT

Brett Horr, GISP, LAVM

Brett is the Corporate GIS Manager for Terracon Consulting Engineers and has worked in the GIS field for over 2 decades. His duties include the management of GIS analysis, geohazard mapping, web and mobile mapping projects, & company GIS support. Brett is also a retired police officer with the York, Maine Police Department. He is a certified Forensic Investigator and certified Forensic Mapper for crash and crime scene investigations. He has provided assistance to many local, state, and federal agencies through the use of crime mapping and analysis. Brett has his FAA certification as a Remote Pilot... Read more

Company Terracon Consulting
Position Corporate GIS Manager
Location Maine

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Liz Juers

Company Montana Department of Transportation
Position GIS Analyst
Location Belgrade, MT

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Tyler Kaebisch

Tyler Kaebisch is a Geospatial Project Manager with Ayres. He has managed small and large-scale projects that apply remote sensing techniques to analyze features across the landscape.

Company Ayres
Position Geospatial Project Manager

Kenny Ketner

Kenny Ketner is the Information Products Lead at the Montana State Library (MSL), where he has worked since 2016. His team is responsible for application development and systems administration, frequently in collaboration with the GIS professionals at MSL.

Company Montana State Library
Position Information Products Lead
Location Helena

Tom Kohley

Company Carbon County
Position GIS Coordinator / Fire Warden
Location Red Lodge

Lee Macholz

Lee Macholz is the GIS Manager for the City of Missoula Montana. She holds a Master’s degree in Geography and GIS from the University of Montana (2004). Lee has 20+ years of professional GIS experience spanning from GIS for Wildland Fire Management to public utilities to all-things GIS in local government. Lee’s areas of expertise are data design and management and building technological bridges from the staff collecting data in the field and creating data in the office to the managers and leadership making data-driven decisions.

Company City of Missoula
Position GIS Manager
Location Missoula, MT

Dan Meehan

Dan is a Senior Project Manager and Business Development Lead with Houseal Lavigne, an urban planning and geospatial design firm focused on evidence-based decision-making and powering the art of planning with science and technology. Dan has been in the geospatial technology industry for almost 20 years and has worked developing, integrating and applying GIS in support of local, state, and federal government projects and academic research.

Company Houseal Lavigne
Position Business Development Lead
Location Chicago, IL

Dan Mummert

Dan Mummert, PE, is a Senior Engineer leading the Innovation Program at Pickett and Associates, LLC (Pickett). He holds a degree and a Professional Engineering License in Civil Engineering, specializing in Geospatial Engineering. Dan has over two decades of comprehensive experience delivering engineering, surveying, aerial mapping, and GIS projects in Wyoming and across the country. _x000D_His role at Pickett includes implementing innovation and change management initiatives, with a focus on integrating geospatial technologies including Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), LiDAR, Terrestrial Scanning... Read more

Company Pickett and Associates
Position Senior Engineer - Innovation
Location Cheyenne, WY

Scott Oppmann

Scott Oppmann is Esri’s ArcGIS for Local Government Project Manager. In this position he is responsible for the planning, implementation, and support of Esri’s ArcGIS for Local Government Solution. This solution provides a series of maps and apps that illustrate how Esri’s software products can be configured to help local governments address specific business needs in their organization and engage citizens throughout their community. Prior to joining Esri in October of 2008, Scott was the Application Services Division Manager with Oakland County Michigan’s Department of Information Technology. In this

Company Esri
Position Manager of ArcGIS Solutions
Location Redlands, CA

Frontier Precision

Frontier Precision is an employee-owned company with over 35 years of experience serving survey, mapping, engineering, construction, GIS, drones/UAS/unmanned, forensics, law enforcement, forestry, water resources, mosquito & vector control, and natural resources professionals throughout the western United States.

Company Frontier Precision

Joe Rhodes

Full-service Missoula-based GIS professional services provider offering affordable GIS development and solutions, ArcGIS Enterprise deployments and upgrades (cloud/on-premises), and ArcGIS Online/Portal backup solutions. We serve customers in nine countries across the globe, from small local governments to large corporations and NGOs.

Company CivicLens
Position Principal/Developer
Location Missoula, MT

Dave Ritts

Dave Ritts is a GIS Analyst with the Montana Department of Commerce. He primarily works with demographic and economic data and maintains dashboards, web pages and databases for the Census and Economic Information Center (CEIC). He has previously worked as a GIS Analyst for Oregon State University and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Company Montana Department of Commerce
Position GIS Analyst
Location Helena

Brock Saylor

Brock Saylor is a senior consultant and lead client success manager with the Digital Solutions team at Langan Engineering and Environmental Services. Brock has extensive experience spanning 13 years in the GIS and digital transformation worlds, and has experience as a GIS analyst, project manager, and business development leader.

Company Langan
Position Senior Consultant | Digital Solutions
Location Denver, CO & Salt Lake City, UT

Brian Shaw

Brian Shaw is NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey Rocky Mountain Regional Advisor. He began his career at NGS in 2002 and has a BS in Computer Science and an MS in Geographic Information Systems which made him the NGS geospatial go-to person. Brian emphasizes how GIS depends on geodesy as a frame of reference for location and is the foundation of positioning. One of his primary duties is educating geodetic and geospatial professionals about the importance of datums and how they are critical to consistent coordinates, especially when aligning and comparing disparate data for making important deci... Read more

Company NOAA's National Geodetic Survey
Position Rocky Mountain Regional Geodetic Advisor
Location Boulder, CO

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Tanner Tompkins

Tanner Tompkins works for a ranch management company headquartered in Bozeman, managing GIS data for over 2 million acres of deeded/leased land. He also helps lead a stream restoration program for the ranch company via GPS surveying, geomorphic measurements, UAS data capture, GIS analysis, and heavy equipment operation.

Company Kroenke Ranches
Position GIS/Land Resources Specialist

Matt Trebesch

Matt Trebesch is a GIS Analyst at the Montana State Library (MSL). At the MSL, he manages a variety of statewide projects including the MSL “Flood Hub” and the now retired Montana Covid-19 dashboard and Hub. He also provides statewide support of MGIA (Formerly MLIA) grantees and applicants. His previous GIS experience includes GIS coordination with a municipal GIS department in Montana and GIS manager for a software vendor of 9-1-1 and other dispatching systems. He has a B.S. in Earth Science, Geology with a concentration in GIS from Montana State University, Bozeman.

Company Montana State Library
Position GIS Analyst
Location Helena, MT

Kara Utter

GIS Consultant and owner of Dynamic Visions GIS. With over 10 years of experience in GIS, I have worked with local, state, and federal government entities, as well as the nonprofit and private sectors. I spent the last five years building and coordinating a County-level GIS program, with my previous experience being focused on Natural Resources, Environmental Science, and Land Management.

I focus on systems thinking, adaptable approaches to systems solutions, and online application development. My capacity to build a GIS program, improve efficiency, increase public access to information, provid... Read more

Company Dynamic Visions GIS
Position GIS Consultant and Owner
Location McCall, Idaho

Nathaniel Williams

Company City of Great Falls
Position GIS Specialist
Location Great Falls