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Ambassador Spotlight ‘Patrick Champion’

Welcoming our latest Brand Ambassador, Patrick Champion from the Memphis area of Tennessee USA! Let’s learn some more about him:

Where did you study? Currently enrolled at East Tennessee State University
What are the requirements to be a Surveyor in your area?
Minimum of a high school diploma/GED, eighteen (18) hours of board-approved coursework in the surveying sciences and 10 years of progressive practical experience under the direction of a professional land surveyor.
How long have you been in the industry? Just over 20 years
How did you get into surveying? I took an AutoCAD class at a local trade school in Bakersfield, CA, and landed a job with a small surveying and engineering company. As I started to learn about the history and laws behind surveying, I couldn’t help but fall in love with the profession. The more I understood it, the more it captivated me.
Any associations and organisations you’d like to mention?
California Land Surveyors Association
Why are you volunteering as a Brand Ambassador?
The surveying profession is losing more people to retirement than we are bringing in. Public promotion of the profession is needed to help keep it alive. If we can expose kids to the profession and get them excited about surveying, we stand a better chance of keeping the profession alive.
Why is GKiS important?
Not only is it vital for the survival of the industry, but introducing kids to surveying can help to reinforce their education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
What are your plans as a Brand Ambassador?
I would like to represent the program and profession at school job fairs and STEM events.
What are your hobbies?
I enjoy spending time with my family and dogs, traveling and doing photography.
GKiS character ideas?
I’d be a friendly, energetic, and determined-looking camel with a white hard hat adorned with a compass rose symbol, wearing a safety yellow surveyor’s vest with multiple pockets filled with things like a field book, and pencils. I’d also be wearing rugged boots and a tool belt.

I would be carrying a robotic total station on my back and have a UAV controller in my hooves with a mapping UAV hovering above to represent the technology we use in the profession.

Any ideas for more GKiS resources?
I think things like stickers, small toys or puzzles based on surveying instruments and maps and other fun items would be great to capture young kids’ attention and attract them to learn more behind the industry.