GPN Young Professional Scholarship Winners Introduced

The Geospatial Professional Network (formerly URISA) is pleased to announce that Harit Shah and Garner “Gigi” Hancock are the recipients of 2025 Dr. Marilyn O’Hara Ruiz Young Professional Scholarships*. The scholarship fully supports young professional participation in GPN’s GIS-Pro annual conference, fostering their professional connections and educational development.

Selection Criteria

• Demonstrated work and/or research within the GIS (or related) industry
  
• Quality of responses to essay questions
  
• Impact of work, contributions to the GIS field
  
• Letter of recommendation

The scholarship program selects up to two young professionals (35 years old or younger) to attend GIS-Pro in-person. The scholarship application is rigorous, and the evaluation committee appreciates the effort and detail with which all candidates presented their qualifications.

Meet this year’s winners:

Harit Shah

Harit Shah recently earned his Master’s in Computer Science from California State University – Sacramento. Prior to that, he earned his Bachelor of Engineering in Information Technology from Gujarat Technological University, in India.

For the past year, Harit has been a GIS Developer Intern, at the California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) where he has contributed to transportation mapping and analysis initiatives. He was a teaching assistant in the Computer Science Department at CSU-Sacramento and a peer mentor in the Geography Department, all while balancing the rigorous demands of his graduate studies.

Some highlights from his application:

“My name is Harit, which means “green” or “nature” in Sanskrit—a name that has become deeply symbolic of my passion for environmental stewardship. Motivated by a commitment to combat climate change, I have dedicated my GIS work to finding innovative solutions for pressing environmental and community challenges. Beyond environmental applications, I have used GIS to address public health concerns in my local community.

Leaving my family and home in India to pursue education in the United States was a major decision. Since arriving, I have been fortunate to have worked at the Institute of Social Research in partnership with the California Department of Public Health and the California Department of Transportation. With both of my parents being mathematics professors, I have inherited a passion for teaching and mentoring. At CSU Sacramento, I taught four computer science undergraduate courses and served as a mentor for the Geography department.”

Youwei Zhou, Senior Transportation Engineer, at CALTRANS commented: “As Harit’s direct supervisor during his internship at Caltrans, I had the privilege of mentoring him on a range of GIS initiatives focused on California’s transportation infrastructure. Harit is one of the most driven and promising young professionals I’ve worked with, and I fully support his application for this outstanding opportunity. Throughout the internship, I mentored Harit not only in refining his technical skills but also in how to frame and communicate our GIS work to external audiences. I encouraged him to prepare and present our Caltrans projects at CalGIS 2025, where he delivered a compelling talk on using GIS automation to support transportation workflows. His professionalism, clarity, and passion during that presentation made a strong impression on our peers in the field.”

Garner (Gigi) Hancock

Garner is the GIS Cartographer for Durham County (North Carolina) Tax Administration. They earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Geophysical Sciences from the University of Chicago.

Some highlights from their application:

“The Durham County Parcel layer is the foundation for how people's real property is taxed, which has a large impact on our community. I strive to ensure it is as accurate as possible and complete thorough research when editing the parcel layer. I often interact with the public and communicate how our GIS processes work and why property has been mapped in a certain way. The parcel layer data also underpins a lot of City processes including permitting and planning, so it is essential that we map accurately and efficiently.

I have also worked with OpenColumbus to digitize and map sidewalk, curb, and ramp infrastructure. This is to ensure there are accurate routes available for people who need accessibility accommodations that are often not accounted for using routing services.

Hacking into History is a community driven project in Durham that works to create and visualise datasets about the historical landscape of Durham. We are currently working on mapping all of the parcels that have been subject to racially restrictive covenants.”

Zuri Gurganious, GIS & Land Records Supervisor at the County, recommended Garner for the scholarship: “Garner has been working as a GIS Cartographer for Durham County since April 2024 and has so far exceeded in their position. They are excellent at conveying complex ideas about GIS mapping to taxpayers in a clear and concise way. They also communicate clearly to other staff (both within and outside of GIS) about what processes need to be done and create maps to illustrate information. Garner shows a great amount of aptitude in the maintenance of the database and performs high quality work even when understaffed. They are very organized and happy to share their thorough notes with others. They pay great attention to detail and consistently meet deadlines.”

Gigi was also a GIS/Applications Technician for the US EPA where their supervisor, Eric S. Hall, is an enthusiastic supporter: “Gigi worked for me in two research groups at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Research and Development (ORD), Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure (CCTE), in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, from June 2023 through April 2024. Gigi worked for me on two of my research projects, the Source Assessment Mapping Interface (SAMI) Tool and the Regional Environmental Health Visualization Interface (REHD-VI) Tool. Gigi is a top-notch developer of Geographic Information System (GIS) applications, and their skills and abilities in this area alone put my research team at least 2 to 3 years ahead of where it had been with respect to integrating GIS capability into our research. Because of Gigi, we can fully assess the temporal and spatial impacts of community water pollution exposure to FIB on various populations of interest, which is an important EPA mandate. GIS is fully implemented in a systematic way into our research because of the framework that Gigi developed for us. Although Gigi was a bachelor’s degree graduate when working for me, Gigi demonstrated the research skills of a high-level graduate student. My daily work interaction with Gigi has convinced me that there is no limit to what Gigi can accomplish.”

Harit and Garner will both attend GIS-Pro in the Rockies 2025 in Denver, Colorado in October. GPN is pleased to support these young professionals, along with so many others who are the future leaders of the organization.

A core strategic goal for the Geospatial Professional Network is to support GIS professionals at all stages of their careers. The organization has established a number of programs to support young professionals and has active participation through programs such as GISCorps with abundant, diverse and rewarding volunteer opportunities, the GIS Leadership Academy, and the Vanguard Cabinet which collaborates with GPN leaders and committees to create programs and opportunities geared toward other young professionals. Learn more about the scholarship, and consider donating to support future winners.

* This scholarship fund was established in 2018 and honors Dr. Marilyn Ruiz. During Dr. Ruiz's career at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she provided her undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral students with excellent research experiences in her laboratory which helped them to have successful careers in academia, government, and industry. Marilyn was passionate about her role as a mentor of graduate education.