After completing his master’s in public health, Daniel Jackson-Reeves knew he wanted to pursue work in GIS and mapping. But with pandemic-era funding drying up at many government agencies, GIS jobs in public health were becoming harder to find. A Professional Science Master's (PSM) in Sustainability from Temple, with a concentration in geospatial technologies, helped him make the pivot. Today, he’s working full time in GIS with the City of Tucson’s data analytics team. 

We asked Daniel about his path, his time in the program, and his advice for students considering taking the leap. 

You came to the PSM with a bachelor's and a master's in public health. What led you to make the move?

Out of college, I was trying to do a lot of GIS work in public health, but that was around the time the COVID funding went away for many of the government organizations I was looking at. I still wanted to do GIS, but I felt I needed to pivot and not be so locked into public health.

I was applying for things, but the rejections were less about me not having skills and more about not having the type of GIS experience they were looking for. So I started looking at GIS-focused programs, so I could do more GIS work that wasn’t so dependent on the kind of funding that public health was depending on at that point. 

What first drew you to GIS?

When I was in public health, there were tons of graphs and charts and things like that, but maps were always the easiest thing for me to understand. That’s what really clicked with me. When COVID happened while I was in college, I realized other people felt that way too, because nobody really took it seriously until you saw the world map where everything was red. 

Once I got deeper into it, I knew this is what I enjoy most. My interests might change, but working in ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Pro has always been enjoyable for me.

How was the PSM in Sustainability program different from what you'd done before?

I was taking a lot more classes focused specifically on ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online. I already knew how to use the tools, but I needed more direct experience, and I could shape my capstone, internship and project to work toward what I wanted. Instead of being a secondary component of my work, GIS felt like my job. 

My internship was with the City of Philadelphia, in the mayor's office, on a GIS project for the Office of Clean and Green Initiatives. They wanted mapping to analyze some of their metrics on where certain areas of the city stood and where their attention needed to go. I also got Python experience, which is something employers look for in GIS candidates.

Did anything surprise you about the program?

I became much more open to programming. I'd done some R early on and didn't always love it, but a lot of the job descriptions asked for Python, which made me want to try it. And once I did, I thought, "Oh, I actually like this."

I use it sparingly, but I'm glad I know what I'm looking at. When issues come up in data transfers, I can understand them and give meaningful suggestions.

What do you do now?

I work for the City of Tucson in the IT department, on the data analytics team. Under that umbrella is the GIS team, who I work with to support a lot of the city's GIS needs.

I work specifically on applications: maintaining them, and right now, migrating some that people use onto new software. I also help with GIS-related support issues when tickets come up. It's mainly supporting their applications and maintenance, and helping to create some things along the way.

How did the program change your job search?

The program changed my resume, my skill set, and my ability to answer questions. I went from looking like a beginner or intermediate GIS user to someone employers saw as much more advanced, especially with Esri products. I could talk about the differences between those and something like QGIS, and what each is useful for.

It validated the work I'd been doing before. It showed I had the training, skill set and education, and not just my word that I knew how to do these things.

What advice do you have for current and prospective students?

If you're in the program, get familiar with ArcGIS Online. It's what I use pretty much all the time, and many of the jobs I applied to valued it even more than experience in ArcGIS Pro.

If you want to apply GIS to environmental work, do the PSM in Sustainability and specialize in GIS. Of all the degrees I have, it's the most useful. My other degrees are valuable, but they didn't put me in the position I wanted. The PSM really did help me get the types of jobs I wanted. It's not as expensive, it's more fulfilling in terms of the classes and internships, and the program really does try to help you find an internship that aligns with your interests—and that's not always a guarantee in a master's program.