Welcoming Angela Bailey a Brand Ambassador from Florida, USA!
“I have recently presented at Troy Universities’ Geo Day 2023, which brings several of the local high schools to the University to learn about the Surveying a Mapping profession and the career opportunities to stem from it. I attended Northwest Florida’s Construction Career Days in 2022, which allows for over 1000 high school students to learn about related trades and provides scholarship opportunities as well. I will also attend Construction Career Days again this year, 2023, and hold a learning lab interactively showing surveying scanning platforms. Being from Pensacola, I also frequent the University of West Florida’s Environmental programs, soon-to-be graduates, about surveying, remote sensing, and GIS internships and career paths in the surveying profession.”
Where did you study? I graduated Tallahassee Community College with an Associates in Science, Geographic Information System and finished my Bachelors at the University of West Florida in Environmental Science.
What are the requirements to be a surveyor in your area? In Florida, you must have a 4 year degree from an ABET accredited Surveying and Mapping program along with 4 years of experience as a subordinate to ta Licensed Professional Surveyor and Mapper and be in responsible charge or a obtain a 4 year Science related degree plus 25 semester hours in surveying related coursework with which you must also have at least 6 years of experience as a subordinate to ta Licensed Professional Surveyor and Mapper and 5 of those years you must be in responsible charge. You also must pass the National exams in Fundamentals of surveying and Principles and Practice of Surveying and the Florida Jurisdictional exam.
How did you get into surveying? I was in college for Graphic Design and needed an internship to finish out my program. I had called almost fifty companies related to graphics or design or architects or ANYONE who could give me some experience with Computer Aided Design software (CAD). Then I came across a Survey company that was willing to take me on and show me some stuff in CAD. It was all survey stuff of course. After that, I was hooked. I quit my job and changed my career course and got an entry level job at a survey company.
If you are not a surveyor, what do you do? I love the natural sciences and would either venture into oceanography or wetland sciences.
How long have you been in the industry? I have been in the industry for about 20 years.
Are you part of any associations or organisations you would like us to mention?
Florida Surveying and Mapping Society (FSMS) Member and Panhandle Chapter Officer
American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) Member
Women in Transportation (WTS) Member
Why do you want to be a GKiS Brand Ambassador? I have love for kids and pride in my profession. I want to see both succeed and grow! There is such a lack of awareness of the Surveying profession. It boggles my mind that so many young and adults have little to no knowledge of one of our oldest professions. How can we teach and pass down our tricks of the trade when so many are unaware that we exist. Kids are missing out on opportunities within and related to this field of study and that falls on us so it’s time we teach what we know and hand down our profession to the next generations.
Why is it important for kids to know about surveying and the wider geospatial industry? For any profession to continue and evolve, there needs to be awareness of it. How will our youth be able to utilize and integrate surveying with our growing technologies if we never introduce them to it?
What are you going to do as an ambassador for GKiS? Get into local schools and organizations like 4-H. I have had to create my own content and material in the past. That is time-consuming and may not captivate the students in a way GKIS has been able to accomplish. GKIS resources make it so much easier for me to focus on interaction with the kids, and they love the posters, coloring pages, and comics. It also gives me stronger backing (credibility) to access the schools and functions. They see I am part of a larger community inspiring and educating our kids about the geospatial industry.
What are your hobbies? Like most surveyors, I like to be outdoors. Camping, fishing, hiking, swimming, and canoeing, you name it. If it is outside and adventurous, count me in!
If you/your company had a GKiS character, what would it be? An Eagle to represent remote sensing.
What poster or resource would you like to see next from GKiS? The evolution of surveying, using old school methods including using Polaris and lead up to the high-tech equipment we have today.
Anything else you want to add that you think our audience (surveyors, teachers, parents) would be interested in? I haven’t met ANY teachers that have been introduced to GKIS. They are always looking for resources to aid them in teaching about maps and surveying. Somehow, we need to educate teachers that GKIS exists and to use it! I think it’s on the ambassadors and anyone in this profession that knows about GKIS to let the teachers know and point them in the right direction to obtain knowledge about GKIS.