Eric Abrams
Keynote Speaker
GeoDecisions
Eric Abrams brings 30+ years of GIS experience through his work as Iowa DOT’s Geographic Information Officer (GIO) and his most recent adventure as a GIS subject matter expert at GeoDecisions.
At Iowa DOT, Eric implemented Iowa DOT’s geospatial environment by leveraging existing tools and advancing Iowa DOT’s Esri ecosystem. He also implemented tools like FME, Oracle Spatial, and Geocortex to help bring geospatial data together. Eric now helps GeoDecisions’ customers advance their GIS ecosystem by looking at an organization's GIS maturity, technology use, and culture. Eric brings a unique perspective on GIS, data management, organizational culture, and how to get things done.
https://www.geodecisions.com/
About Eric Abrams
Follow Eric Abrams
Keynote Speaker
GeoDecisions
Dr. Amanda Ashworth
Research Soil Scientist
USDA-ARS
Dr. Amanda Ashworth, is a research soil scientist at the USDA ARS Poultry Production and Product Safety Unit in Fayetteville, AR and Adjunct Professor in the Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences Department at the University of Arkansas. Dr. Ashworth received a B.A. and M.S. from the University of Arkansas and a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee. She is recognized for her systems-based approach for developing soil, crop, and animal best management technologies for enhanced system sustainability. Dr. Ashworth’s interdisciplinary research program focuses on plant-soil-water interactions related to the development of best management practices for poultry litter in pasture and cropping systems. Dr. Ashworth serves on the American Society of Agronomy Board of Representatives.
About Dr. Amanda Ashworth
Follow Dr. Amanda Ashworth
Research Soil Scientist
USDA-ARS
Eric Bock
Technical Support & Training Manager
NEI
Eric Bock: Graduated from University of New Orleans where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography with an emphasis on GIS and Remote Sensing. Eric has over 25 years in the GNSS and GIS related fields working at the private, state and federal levels. Eric is currently Technical Support & Training Manager at NEI. Eric has trained over 1500 customers and has been recognized as Trimble's Mapping and GIS Trainer of the year.
https://www.neigps.com/
About Eric Bock
Follow Eric Bock
Technical Support & Training Manager
NEI
Rush Evans
Graduate Student
Arkansas State University
Arkansas native, Rush Evans graduated with his bachelors of science in Agriculture Technology in 2020. He is currently working on his masters at Arkansas State University, researching variable rate nitrogen on rice varieties.
https://www.astate.edu/
About Rush Evans
Follow Rush Evans
Graduate Student
Arkansas State University
Chase Fisher
Solutions Engineer
Esri
Solution Engineer for Esri out of the St Louis, Missouri regional office. Originally from the Southwest Missouri Area, where I spent 14 years in city and county government GIS coordination. Prior to coming to Esri I became a FAA certified Remote Pilot and started my own UAV and GIS consultancy company. Now as a Solution Engineer I currently support the local government team.
https://www.esri.com/
About Chase Fisher
Follow Chase Fisher
Solutions Engineer
Esri
Katy Hattenhauer
Senior GIS Analyst
Arkansas GIS Office
Katy Hattenhauer is a Senior GIS Analyst with the AGISO and has played a vital role in the NG911 project due to her GIS background, specifically with the NHD/WBD in Arkansas. Katy enjoys spending time with her family, crafting, and being outside.
https://www.transform.ar.gov/gis-office/
About Katy Hattenhauer
Follow Katy Hattenhauer
Senior GIS Analyst
Arkansas GIS Office
Mervin Jebaraj
Director Center for Business and Economic Research
University of Arkansas
Mervin Jebaraj is the director of the Center for Business and Economic Research. He has contributed to economic thinking and public policy discussion that journalists, business people, and community leaders alike rely on to understand how national and regional issues impact Northwest Arkansas and Arkansas as a whole. Arkansas Business and the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal recognized Mervin in their 40 Under 40 lists and on the Arkansas 250 list. He makes presentations that share the center’s expertise directly to over 5,000 individuals annually and tens of thousands more hear and see his economic analysis and commentary through TV, radio and print media. Jebaraj serves on the Community Development Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the Board of Directors of the National Association for Business Economics, the Board of Directors of the Association for University Business and Economic Research, the Board of Directors of the Northwest Arkansas National Airport, and on the Board of Directors of the Walton Arts Center.
https://cber.uark.edu/
About Mervin Jebaraj
Follow Mervin Jebaraj
Director Center for Business and Economic Research
University of Arkansas
Robert Kacir
Advanced Geospatial Specialist
ArDOT
Robert Kacir is an Advanced Geospatial Specialist with the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT), SIR Division, Traffic Information Systems Section. He has a master's degree in Cartography/GIS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before working for ArDOT, Robert was a GIS Analyst for Arkansas State Parks.
https://www.ardot.gov/
About Robert Kacir
Follow Robert Kacir
Advanced Geospatial Specialist
ArDOT
Dr. Zamir Libohova
Research Soil Scientist
USDA-ARS
Dr. Zamir Libohova is a Research Soil Scientist at the USDA-ARS Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center in Booneville Arkansas. His research interests are on understanding how technology can be applied to small farm operations to understand animal, plant and soil interactions for optimizing economic gains. His research focus on developing models and tools to better manage these systems. Prior to joining the USDA-ARS center, Dr. Libohova worked as a Research Soil Scientist at the USDA-NRCS, National Soil Survey Center in Lincoln Nebraska conducting research on soil modelling using digital soil mapping and remote sensing approaches on national and international projects. He worked at the World Bank Forestry Project in Albania overseeing the implementation of the Environmental impact Assessment program. Dr. Libohova continues to collaborate on many projects in different countries like Albania, Brazil, China, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Colombia, France, Mexico, Haiti, Kenya, Russia and Switzerland. Dr. Libohova received his BS degree and Doctor of Science degree in Agronomy from Agriculture University of Tirana, Albania. He graduated from Colorado State University with a Master of Science degree in hydrology and watershed management. His Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree at Purdue University focused on Hydropedology. Dr. Libohova is a member of editorial board for several peer review journal and an Adjunct Associate Professor at Purdue University.
About Dr. Zamir Libohova
Follow Dr. Zamir Libohova
Research Soil Scientist
USDA-ARS
Dr. John Nowlin, GISP
Assistant Professor of Geospatial Technologies
Arkansas State University
Dr. Nowlin has been an Assistant Professor of Geospatial Technology in the College of Agriculture at Arkansas State University since the Fall of 2018. He teaches a variety of GIS, spatial data science and geospatial modeling courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. His research relates to geospatial modeling of agricultural and physical site suitability, terroir, responding to in-field variability, and micro-topographic analysis. His published work investigates physical site suitability, quantifies physical terroir, determines the boundaries of vineyards and appellations, and tests the adoption of agricultural advice. He is currently working on two separate projects. The first is analyzing spatial variability in cotton-peanut rotations in Northeastern Arkansas. The second relates to aspects of micro-topographic modeling for agronomic and surface water infrastructure across multiple sub-regions of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain.
https://www.astate.edu/college/agriculture-and-technology/faculty-staff/people-details.dot?pid=9e63e3b3-d724-44af-aadc-ff51f4d9039b
About Dr. John Nowlin, GISP
Follow Dr. John Nowlin, GISP
Assistant Professor of Geospatial Technologies
Arkansas State University
Dr. Phillip Owens
Research Leader
USDA-ARS
Dr. Phillip R. Owens is the Research Leader at the USDA, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center in Booneville, AR. After receiving his B.S. and M.S. at the University of Arkansas, he completed a Ph.D. in soil science from Texas A & M University. He worked in the office of U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln as a Congressional Science Fellow and then as Research Soil Scientist with USDA-ARS at Mississippi State University. Dr. Owens was an Associate Professor of Pedology/Soil Geomorphology in the Department of Agronomy at Purdue University where he developed 2 patents using remotely sensed elevation data and machine learning. Dr. Owens’ current research interests include soil and landscape processes related to soil health and agricultural sustainability. He continues to develop tools incorporating proximal and remote sensing technology for applications for small holder farmers. Dr. Owens focuses on small farms around the world and particularly in Central America where he led the Water Smart Agriculture project’s digital mapping program in El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala. He is the past Chair of the Pedology Division of the Soil Science Society of America, past Associate Editor of Soil Science Society of America Journal, Co-Chair of New Technologies in Soil Survey Committee, Facilitator of the IUSS Universal Soil Classification System Committee, and former member of the National Soil Survey Advisory Board.
About Dr. Phillip Owens
Follow Dr. Phillip Owens
Research Leader
USDA-ARS
Daniel Phillips, PS
State Surveyor
Arkansas Department of Transformation & Shared Services
Daniel is a native of Central Arkansas. He has been involved with land surveying for over 13 years and has been a licensed surveyor since 2016. He has been involved with many types of land surveying and GIS projects throughout his career
As State Surveyor of Arkansas, Daniel is responsible for leading Arkansas’s Division of Land Surveys. This role includes managing Arkansas’s Public Land Survey System, prescribing statewide surveying rules, maintaining a database of over 18,000 corner certificates (representing approximately 15,000 survey markers), and managing an archive of over 200,000 survey plats. Daniel works closely with the surveying industry, Arkansas GIS Office, Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Professional Surveyors, ArDOT, National Geodetic Survey, and the citizens of Arkansas.
He previously worked at Pulaski County Public Works, where he was responsible for survey and plan review, leading a technical staff, setting inspection procedures for civil construction projects, and was instrumental in planning, managing, and inspecting a vast number of roadway and drainage improvement projects including the $2.3 million MacArthur Park Street Improvements (2011-2013).
https://www.transform.ar.gov/gis-office/
About Daniel Phillips, PS
Follow Daniel Phillips, PS
State Surveyor
Arkansas Department of Transformation & Shared Services
Tyler Post
Spatial Information Systems
Benesch
Mr. Post specializes in spatial information systems, applying geospatial concepts to streamline and automate work flows. He has extensive experience with ESRI ArcGIS Online and desktop software; QuickBase; SQL & cloud database management; web applications development; and automation with coding in Python, Java Script, and various visual process automation platforms. His uniquely combined skill sets and work experience assist greatly in standardizing/improving current procedures, crafting various technical solutions to streamline various workflows, and adding efficiency to reporting. Mr. Post is an Arkansas Native who lives in Alexander, AR with his wife and five children. They enjoy being active members at Geyer Springs church, children's sports, outdoor activities, and spending time tending to their small family farm together.
https://web.benesch.com/
About Tyler Post
Follow Tyler Post
Spatial Information Systems
Benesch
Jason Reynolds
Arkansas Mapping & GIS Sales Consultant
NEI
Jason joined the nei team in 2021. He comes with years of experience as a Utility Engineering Project Manager for the City of Hot Springs Water and Wastewater. He also managed utility work within the public ROWs. Mapping and GIS has been an integral part of successful day to day work.
https://www.neigps.com/
About Jason Reynolds
Follow Jason Reynolds
Arkansas Mapping & GIS Sales Consultant
NEI
Krysia (Chris) Sapeta
Director of Strategic Accounts
Sanborn Map Company, Inc.
Ms. Sapeta is a Director, Strategic Accounts, for The Sanborn Map Company, Inc. (Sanborn) Sanborn is the oldest map company in the US, established in 1866 building fire insurance maps. They are now a 21st century industry leader in geospatial solutions and technology and their primary business function is providing professional geospatial mapping and GIS services to organizations around the world.
Ms. Krysia Sapeta has over 30 years of experience working in the geospatial industry. Her background includes a strong technical foundation and 18 years as a full life-cycle program manager.
She entered the geospatial mapping industry with the ground control survey technology she learned as part of obtaining her Bachelor of Science, Geology. She continues to enhance her technology expertise through continuing education and shares her knowledge with the geospatial community through presentations, workshops and publications.
https://www.sanborn.com/
About Krysia (Chris) Sapeta
Follow Krysia (Chris) Sapeta
Director of Strategic Accounts
Sanborn Map Company, Inc.
Daniel Shults
GIS Data Analyst
Greenway
Daniel graduated in August of 2021 with his Master’s of Science in Agriculture with a concentration in Digital Agriculture. The title of his thesis was “Spatial-Temporal Modeling of Agricultural Water Surface Features in Northeastern Arkansas.” His research centered around using satellite and aerial remote imagery and high-resolution topographic surfaces to find bodies of water, determine if they resembled reservoirs, and analyze when they were established. He also modeled micro-topography to assess precision field grading. In June of 2021 he took a position with Greenway in Weiner, AR where he now practices the dark arts of Agronomic Geospatial Science.
About Daniel Shults
Follow Daniel Shults
GIS Data Analyst
Greenway
