Margaret Spyker, GISP, LEED GA, is the Data Team Lead for Go Code Colorado as a Data and GIS Analyst, specializing in creating new types of data from existing sources and formatting it specifically for developers as the end user. Margaret works for Xentity, a Golden, Colorado based company that contracts with government agencies for GIS and Data Curation Services using Agile Project Management techniques. Some of Margaret’s other contracts for Xentity have included an aggregate parcel dataset for the State of Colorado, 100 year land use change detection study measuring irrigated acres for a Colorado water company, and building a geospatial data warehouse to generate visualizations and interactive maps for the Illinois Healthcare Marketplace.   

Margaret is one of the newest additions to the IMIA board and has been attending conferences since 2009. In her new role, Margaret is looking to engage with other industry leaders to stay current with the gestalt of the GIS and map industry. She is looking forward to engaging further with IMIA, and learning from the perspective of the amazing group of people that come together at IMIA to share ideas and industry stories.

As a long term career goal, Margaret is continuing to work toward the integration of cartography, open data and web map visualization. IMIA provides an opportunity to connect cartographers  and the geospatial industry as a whole to the new channels of industry that find themselves producing interactive maps, including web developers, open data evangelists and public data curators.  Margaret is especially excited about the new direction of IMIA and the intent to convene in meetups and other arenas to foster discussions on the future of the industry, and ways industry leaders can work together to see cartography, aesthetics, design and storytelling through the next era of mapping.  

Prior to working for Xentity, Margaret spent 4 years at a GIS Research center at Western Michigan University designing and producing a map series of the US at 1:24000, and processing data for mash-up visualizations to prove use cases for new data. For this project, Margaret and team won the 2014 IMIA digital map award and best overall map product. Margaret’s personal research includes Sustainable Residential Landscapes, and was on the winning team for the 2013 Living Building Challenge Chicago Design Competition. Margaret has a Master’s in Geography and a Bachelor’s in Philosophy from Western Michigan University. Margaret is certified as a GISP and LEED GA.

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