Meet Kiri Carini: MS-GIST Online Student and GIS Graduate Assistant at UA Libraries

Kiri is currently a master's student in the GIST online program and also works part time as a Graduate Assistant in the Office of Digital Innovation & Stewardship at UA Libraries (UAL). UAL maintains a geospatial archive and online data discovery tool called the Spatial Data Explorer (SDE) and also provides support and consulting services to students & faculty on GIS data, projects and training. As the Graduate Assistant, Kiri offers weekly GIS Drop-In help for students that need assistance with their GIS coursework or research. She also works with faculty on training and research projects. This spring she taught a Story Maps class in the College of Public Health and developed a field data collection app for faculty in the School of Music.
Kiri's thoughts on being the Graduate Assistant at UAL: "Working at the Library is great because it is the perfect mix of technical GIS work like maintaining and bringing new data into the SDE, and lots of outreach and interaction with people using geospatial tools across campus. It is always exciting to see the ways that GIS is being used by people from every discipline. The Library is sort of this central place for people across campus, which is why I love events like GIS day (held annually in November), which bring GIS users together. It is also why I am actively working to start a Maptime chapter in Tucson (the first in Arizona!) - the geospatial community in Tucson needs a place to come together that is welcoming to everyone, regardless of their background. So stay tuned for upcoming events, or let me know if you'd like to be involved!"
Prior to starting the master's program and working at UAL, Kiri worked in state and local government as a grants and program manager in Colorado, Maryland and Oregon. Kiri currently works remotely doing GIS for the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. She has experience using GIS for urban planning & real estate, hazard mitigation, emergency management, tourism, and environmental science. She has a B.S. in Public Policy, Management & Planning from the University of Southern California and also maintains a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. Her future goal is to work with conservation organizations, helping them build and use geospatial tools that inform the public and aid data driven decision-making. She is excited to embark on her master's project with the Tucson Audubon Society.
You can follow her on Twitter @KiriCarini where she tweets about geography, geospatial technology and graduate school.