Trial and Error in the Unknown: Teaching Myself How to Use GIS
Hello everyone! My name is Vivian Kase, and I am an alumna of the Pennsylvania State University and current Environmental Scientist at Cedarville Engineering Group. In this blog post, I will take you through my rather unconventional journey as a budding GIS professional.
Geography – Love at First Sight
Growing up, I always had an idea of what my academic career would look like. I enjoyed the environmental sciences, as well as the humanities, and so when I entered college, I found a perfect blend of the two within Penn State’s Geography Department. I especially took to topics of the urban, enrolling in three separate courses—Economic Geography, Urban Geography, and Comparative Urban Geography—all taught by Dr. Emily Rosenman who helped guide my budding interest. However, there was one component to all the reports and lectures that I noticed but attempted to ignore: mapping, but more specifically, Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
Throughout my academic career, I always struggled with anything related to coding or technology. Part of my avoidance was simply rooted in the dislike of anything I was not immediately good at. Writing and the natural sciences came easily to me; math and technology did not. When things became difficult and pushed me out of my comfort zone, it was easy to jump ship. However, at Penn State, all Geography majors were required to take at least one GIS class to graduate. Therefore, despite my resistance, there was a part of me that knew I would need to overcome my fear.
Taking my Studies Abroad
The summer after my junior year, I embarked on a one-month study abroad in Thailand with thirteen other Penn State students. The trip took us across three major cities and was meant to reinforce our understanding of the country’s ability to manage and overcome natural disasters, with a focus on flooding following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. I learned rice planting techniques, the qualities of flood evacuation-friendly infrastructure, and how to order tea in Thai. And though the month-long study was impactful as it marked my first time in Asia, it also stands out in my academic career as my first time trying my hand at GIS, despite my lack of prior experience.
Our course grade hinged on a final report and presentation, the topic and means of visualizing our subject of choice entirely left up to us. During my time abroad, I noticed a phenomenon in Bangkok discussed in one of my classes the semester prior: the Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE).
Having already a wealth of background knowledge and preexisting interest in the UHIE from past classes, I elected to choose this as my topic, but I was stuck on how to present it.
In my geography lectures, everyone was already well acquainted with the topic, however of my classmates in this Maymester course, only a few held environmental majors. I knew GIS was my best bet at bridging an abstract idea I could lecture on with something visual my classmates could take in. Thus, I spent my last week of the trip trying my hand at making a heat map in ArcGIS Pro.
First Maps and Stumbles
Using technology supplied by the local university we were paired with, I relied on climatology students at Kasetsart University and Esri Community forums to stumble my way through the process, a plethora of questions buoying my efforts.
At first it was embarrassing, asking how to swap out my basemaps and import data stored on local drives, but the more I asked, the more I felt comfortable doing so, leading to real, actionable results.
I returned to the States with a shaky but existing understanding of GIS, and so when I began my internship at
STV Inc. the following month, the fear I had in asking for guidance did not accompany me. Here, I learned the aspects of GIS that existed away from the desk—GPS usage, and how to collect information out in the field that could be later manipulated online.
I mapped wetlands and streams using Trimble handheld devices, dropping points that I would later be able to upload and alter in whatever way I pleased. It was perhaps less glamorous than the rudimentary choropleth map I used to show income averages in Bangkok and the heat island map I’d imported of the city, but it was important work in furthering my education all the same. Here I learned what it meant to gather my own data rather than rely on what existed online, and how to edit and stylize it into something that was mine.
Applications in the Classroom
Returning for my final year at Penn State, I enrolled in my first formal GIS class. Though I was no longer completely in the dark, there were still foundational concepts I had yet to understand. It was through this course I learned the difference between raster and vector data, how to perform different types of spatial analysis, and the importance of telling stories with maps, including how to use ArcGIS StoryMaps.
I used my newly acquired technical skills to create a map for the State College Community Land Trust for whom I was a student researcher for, placing existing land trust properties on a map of the borough that was divided based on demographic concentrations pulled from US Census data. The purpose was to increase racial diversity of land trust ownership within a predominantly white area, and my findings were kept by the land trust’s planning committee for future acquisition plans. By the time I graduated, I had a full portfolio of maps pulled from my time abroad, in class, and as a student research assistant.
Utilizing GIS in the Workforce
Entering my first post-grad job, I found that my time teaching myself how to use GIS was useful not only in terms of the technical skills gained, but also in terms of my strengthened self-sufficiency. Despite being several years younger than my coworkers, I wasn’t afraid of asking for help in the way I’d once been, and I took on the client deliverables I was given with confidence rather than fear. I had proved to myself that I was capable of learning, and so now I wanted to prove to others that I was capable of delivering.
As one of two GIS professionals at my firm, I was quickly assigned tasks for a variety of client and in-house projects, the greatest and most strenuous of which being a map of all 2,500+ municipalities in the state of Pennsylvania.
Over the course of two and a half months in the winter of 2024 into 2025, I spent hours creating personalized reports for each PA municipality, grading them on scores based on their available funds, stormwater permit statuses, borough/township engineer(s), driving distances from the office, and other related data to create municipal inventories. Much of my effort was rooted in preexisting knowledge I had collected during my time as a student, but an even greater portion existed within my ability to ask for help, to learn online, and to rely on the patience that is needed for repeated trial and error.
Beyond the Map
Upon reflection, I think the biggest takeaway in my journey as a mostly self-taught GIS professional is the importance of community and utilizing it to the fullest extent. I would not have gotten to where I am now if it were not for the students of Kasetsart University, online Esri training resources, or my colleagues and classmates. Had I remained in my bubble of comfort, I may have continued to live as though GIS was something to fear and avoid rather than a tool to embrace and wield. Geography is a discipline that has lent me new friends, new worldly experiences, and new ways of thinking. Through GIS, I believe I can now experience the discipline to the fullest and explore the once unthinkable. I encourage anyone who might be hesitant or fearful to take the first step like I had years ago; you might be surprised with where it leads you.
If you would like to get in touch, you can find me in any of the platforms included on my portfolio, or you can connect with me on LinkedIn. I am always looking to connect with likeminded individuals, fellow mapmakers, and Esri enthusiasts!