Educating, Supporting, and Learning In Edmonton: Edmonton GoGeomatics Group Leader Profile
GoGeomatics free group networking events are open to everyone from all areas of geomatics, including business owners, professionals, students, and others. The purpose of the Socials is to build a thriving geospatial community through networking opportunities. Socials are held in pubs across Canada and are led by volunteer group leaders who share their time and knowledge. Please feel free to join our Edmonton Meetup Group here.
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This series is to introduce the community to those GoGeomatics Group Leaders.
Welcome to the GoGeomatics Edmonton Meetup Group
Shawn DeAdder, Oil and Gas GIS Analyst | 3D Infrastructure Spatial Analyst | Emergency Response Mapping
Tober’s first law of Geography, “Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things,” has resonated with Shawn DeAdder throughout his career.
He says, “I do believe that with communication within the community of Geomatics, we come to understand that we are more related in our work and struggles than we are different. I try to bring that idea to the Group meetings. With my experience as a Remote worker, this idea of relation has now spread globally to anywhere we can Zoom or Skype to.”
How did Shawn DeAdder get to this spot? How did he go from being “a Spatial Analyst for the Canadian Forces to a Leader for a GIS social group in Edmonton talking ‘map-crap’,” as his wife would describe it?
Shawn says, “With my interest in all things Geomatics and the help of the Google algorithm, I discovered a presentation held by the Edmonton GoGeomatics Group. The presentation was on collecting data from a Mobile LiDAR platform. The presenter was Dianne Michalak, Program Lead, who later ended up being my close friend and mentor in everything GIS.”
Shawn was encouraged to step into the Edmonton group’s leadership role after a few years. The previous Leaders still drop into the occasional Meetups when they can, and still offer guidance and friendship which is appreciated by all.
Shawn was a Geomatics Technician serving in the Canadian Armed Forces and stationed at the Edmonton Base when he began attending the Edmonton Group meetings. Before becoming a Military GIS technician, he was an Infanteer where the use and importance of navigation was one of the cornerstones of the job.
“When the opportunity for a change in career presented itself, I chose the trade of Military Geomatics Technician. What would be a better job than to create the maps I was using in my previous role? This job encompassed GIS and Surveying within the Military environment. The biggest part of the role was creating spatial analysis for Leaders to use in their decisions,” Shawn said.
Shawn’s original education was in the Military Geomatics Technician Program at Algonquin College for GIS and Surveying. He received his Applied Degree from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology’s (SAIT) Bachelor of Applied Technology Geographic Information Systems Program.
Shawn recently finished working with a Calgary-based LiDAR collection company as an independent contractor. Within the role as the Senior GIS Technician, Shawn, and his team, have collected and analyzed their own LiDAR for projects in National and International Infrastructure, Forestry, and Oil and Gas projects.
