Tanya Saxena, GIS Technician, SCV Water Agency
Hello all! My name is Tanya and I was a transfer student who really enjoyed my 2 years at CSUCI before I graduated with my ESRM degree in 2020. In my first semester, I found a passion for GIS, which felt like the perfect combination of my interests in technology, the environment, and graphic design. I completed all the GIS courses offered at school, became a GIS tutor, and also attended the ESRI User Conference - the largest gathering of GIS professionals and map enthusiasts in the world. Here, my love for this field was cemented, and I was confident I wanted to pursue a career in digital mapping. So in my final year, I worked as a GIS intern at Camrosa Water District in Camarillo, where I grew a familiarity and appreciation for mapping the water world. The highlights of my time at CSUCI include every time I got to visit the Channel Islands, joining the Maui research trip where I was on a boat everyday and used GIS to analyze the paths of nursing humpback whales, and completing my undergraduate thesis, for which I spent a summer finding and mapping endangered bird nests at Ormond Beach.
Shortly after graduation, I found a position at SCV Water Agency in my hometown, and I’ve been happily honing my skills here as a GIS Technician ever since. I attend the ESRI User Conference with my wonderful team every year, and I’ve even submitted a map that was featured in the Conference’s map gallery. It felt so fulfilling to return to the Conference as a professional, contributing to the field. At work, my primary focus is on creating and supporting GIS applications for the field team, incorporating drones into our workflow, and providing ways to visualize spatial data to the Agency and the public. The ESRM program has some of the most enriching academic opportunities, and my advice to any student is to make the most of them and take on new experiences.
Kevin Gaston, Specialist in Geographic Information Systems(GIS), TreePeople Land Trust.
Kevin Gaston graduated from CSUCI in 2015 with a B.S. in Environmental Science and Resource Management. Upon graduating he began working at TreePeople Land Trust (TPLT) as a specialist in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and stream morphology, where he utilized field methods and technical skills learned from his time at CSUCI’s research station at Santa Rosa Island. Kevin quickly moved into a project management role, and over time began serving as an administrator to the organization. He now serves as TPLT’s Executive Director and has lead the organization through a number of pivotal transitions including accreditation by the Land Trust Alliance, the COVID pandemic, and the acquisition of TPLT by its parent organization, TreePeople. Kevin now focuses his efforts on land trust administration, wildfire resiliency education, and the acquisition and restoration of degraded landscapes such as oilfields to increase equitable access to open space.