That’s fantastic, Erin — welcome to the community! 👏
It’s great to see a first-year already combining GIS + Computer Science and getting hands-on experience with remote sensing, photogrammetry, and UAV point cloud processing. That combination is incredibly powerful — especially as spatial analytics, AI, and automation continue to converge.
You’re building the right foundation early:
Strong geospatial fundamentals
Technical depth through CS
Practical exposure to real-world spatial data
My advice as someone who has worked across GIS, cloud platforms, and enterprise data engineering:
:keycap_1: Keep strengthening your programming skills (Python + spatial libraries like GeoPandas, Rasterio, etc.).
:keycap_2: Learn cloud-native geospatial workflows — that’s where the industry is heading.
:keycap_3: Build small portfolio projects and publish them (GitHub + short writeups).
:keycap_4: Stay curious about how GIS integrates with AI and data engineering — that intersection is growing fast.
The YPN community is a great place to learn and collaborate. Keep sharing your journey — you’re starting strong!
Wishing you continued success 🚀
Venkat Kondepati | LinkedIn
