Hello Esri YPN Network! My name is Margo, and I may have met you at this year's Esri User Conference in San Diego. If not, it is great to meet virtually. I am a GIS and environmental enthusiast, working toward my Master's in Geoscience with a focus in Geospatial Technologies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW).
Coming from four years of playing NCAA Division 1 volleyball for UNCW, I am equipped with leadership, team-first strategy, and time management skills. It has been a pleasure to transition from a student-athlete balancing environmental GIS research to a full-time graduate research assistant this Fall 2025. My research focuses on "Investigating the Strengths and Limitations of NASA's TROPICS Small Satellite Constellation for Tropical Cyclone Precipitation Measurement." Upon selection, I am looking forward to presenting the study's results at the American Meteorological Society 106th Annual Meeting. Will any of you be attending? Let me know in the replies!
I had the best experience this summer as an Esri Student Assistant for the User Conference. Learning from different software development teams, product engineers, and sector-specific solutions engineers truly expanded my knowledge of Esri's capabilities and applications. The connections I made inspired me so much as to apply for a student internship this coming summer 2026! If you have any advice relating to Esri's career pathways or application process, please drop a reply.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to networking with you all!
Your research sounds super cool! What inspired you to pursue it? I am also studying Geospatial Technologies and I am hoping to gain insight on what research there is in the GIS field.
I moved to the coastal town of Wilmington, North Carolina, where hurricanes cause immense devastation, in 2021. Already being interested in Earth's changing climate, I was now curious how the impacts of hurricanes were changing too. I enjoy statistics and coding, which is primarily what I do currently. This NASA TROPICS project was in demand, so I learned as much as I could on the topic from my advisor's former graduate student and decided to join the research lab.
Rooting for you @MargoHuff!
Hi Margo, thanks for sharing your inspiring journey! 🌍
I’m Ahmed Yasser, a GIS researcher from Egypt, focusing on applying GIS and spatial analysis in public health and urban studies. I really enjoyed reading about your TROPICS project—climate and disaster resilience research is something I’m very interested in as well.
Looking forward to connecting and learning more about your work. Best of luck with your presentation at AMS!