Geographers without Borders

Veronica Nixon, GISP, is a GIS professional in Phoenix, Arizona, whose work sits at the intersection of Geographic InformationScience, citizen science, and human-centered tech innovation. She holds a Master’s degree in Geography from the University of Iowa, where she focused on qualitative spatio-temporal reasoning. As a grad student craving practical applications, she once described her GIScience research as pure “GIS sci-fi”. Happily, that topic resurfaced in many unexpected ways throughout her 15-year GIS career and she has developed a strong appreciation for qualitative reasoning in many domains and for the ways in which GIS software has begun to support time and change.
Veronica began her professional GIS journey in the research department of a major botanical garden, where she and a team of volunteers and interns built a small geographic information system to support daily garden operations, botanical research, conservation work, and plant-collecting expeditions across the Southwest.
Most recently, Veronica spent nearly five years supporting enterprise GIS infrastructure for Arizona’s water-resourcescommunity. She recently stepped back from the traditional 9–5 to take a GIS Sabbatical, update her technical skills, and explore wide-ranging geospatial interests before choosing her next professional chapter.
Outside of her formal career, Veronica organizes PHXGeo, an highly inclusive and dynamic GIS meetup community for thePhoenix Valley. PHXGeo welcomes anyone—from seasoned GIS practitioners to curious students—and has hosted everything from saguaro surveys to drone best-practice sessions, GIS trivia nights, insider industry tours, GIS softwareshowdowns, and orienteering adventures in the Sonoran Desert. Veronica and her PHXGeo collaborators aim to provide a space where over 500 past and present members can kick back and enjoy sharing their highly diverse geospatialinterests with each other.
Beyond GIS, Veronica describes herself as a “language hobbyist”, with a particular interest in French language and culture. With her European heritage, love of travel, and a degree in international studies, Veronica tentatively hopes to have the opportunity at some point in her career to merge her GIS expertise with her international interests. And inthe meantime, she is thoroughly enjoying using her GIS Sabbatical time to pursue these interests - including coming on the Geography Without Borders Podcast.

Dr. Golnaz Badr is a GIS & Data Systems Specialist withover 15 years of experience spanning geospatial analytics, smart mobility, environmental modeling, and enterprise data solutions. She currently supports statewide geospatial systems and data modernization efforts at the WashingtonState Department of Transportation (WSDOT), where she applies her expertise in GIS, remote sensing, and data analytics to improve asset management, and right-of-way workflows. Previously, Dr. Badr served as an Analytics Product Ownerb and Senior Geospatial Data Scientist at Ford Motor Company, leading smart mobility analytics products and delivering data-driven insights for AutonomousVehicles analytics and fleet intelligence. Her work has bridged research, industry, and public-sector applications, with prior roles including Postdoctoral Associate at Cornell University, Research Intern at IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center, and Visiting Assistant Professor in environmentalscience. She holds a PhD in Systems Engineering from Washington State University and master’s degrees in both Agricultural Engineering and Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation. Dr. Badr has published  in geospatial and environmental domains, led multiple cross-functionalcollaborations, and serves as a volunteer on Mentorship Committee for Women in GIS (WiGIS).
Her work is driven by a passion for using spatial data,advanced analytics, and thoughtful system design to solve complex real-world challenges across transportation, mobility, and environmental systems.

Olivia (Hughes) Morris, GISP, is a GIS Developer and GISS at the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. She specializes in environmental GIS and volunteers as a responder to wildland fire emergencies with the National Wildfire Coordinating Group. Olivia has a Bachelors of Science in Biology with a Chemistry minor from Washington College, and a Certificate of Data Science and Visualization from UC Berkeley.

Aisha Jenkins, PMP, CTT is a tech equity consultant, specializing in GIS & Digital Strategy, Academic and Workforce development, podcasting, and more. Aisha is guided by a need to be part of the solution, rather than stay comfortable or silent. GIS has been her tool for truth-telling, innovation, and equity. Aisha believes when we center Black and marginalized voices, we open the door for true diversity.Aisha has a Bachelor of Science in Biology/ Chemistry from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Science in Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Mamata is Head of Cartography at Felt. With over 15 yearsin the geosciences, Mamata has experience in cartographic systems, design, developing cartographic tools and products, and started her career in basemaps, and transitioned into thematic cartography and building cartographic thinking into tools. You may have seen her work if you’ve used ESRI’s dark basemaps or are familiar with the web maps produced for the National Park Service. Mamatahas a BA in Geography from UC Santa Barbara and an MS in Geography from Penn State. Mamata was also named as one of the 40 under 40 of remarkable geospatial professionals in 2017.