Above: Marc wears a poncho given to him by his students in Paraguay.

xyHt celebrates Valentine’s Day by sharing the love our contributors feel about their geospatial careers.

Marc Delgado Loves His Students’ Reactions

I love to see and hear my students’ initial reactions when they draw their first map from memory. I’m now in my fourth continent teaching GIS to college students and professionals, yet anywhere I teach and in whatever language—be it in a megalopolis like Manila (English) or a small city like Asuncion in Paraguay (Spanish) or even in remote Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso (French)—the reaction is the same all over the world. The astonished look in the students’ eyes and the excited tone in their voices is unforgettable as they finally see their own hand-drawn maps on-screen.

Plus, of course, the traveling that goes with the job makes me want to go on and on with this vocation. How many times can you say that you’ve crossed a tropical jungle on a motorbike to teach GIS to municipal planners?

Credit: Black Swift Technologies

Jeff Salmon Loves Discovery

I love researching geospatial technology, especially unmanned systems, and discovering new applications, platforms, and sensors. I’ve always gotten a kick out of flying things—from my first paper airplane to my newest drone—and robots are so awesome! Reading and learning about how these two technologies merge into UAS is as exhilarating as it is enjoyable.

Kevin Lidtka Loves the Process 

I love having access to all sorts of incredible exclusive locations. I love the whole process of it—everything from the training to hooking into safety equipment and climbing onto a dangerous ledge, all to get to the perfect laser-scanning location. And once I’m at that amazing spot, I get to use awesome tech gear. Then back safe and comfortable in the office, I get to assemble the scans together like a puzzle, then produce a (usually) fun deliverable. In short: I love my job because of my job!

Nick Duggan Loves Pushing the Boundaries

There is so much to love about my job. Not only do I get to build 3D worlds, but I also get to innovate new solutions and ways of working with spatial data. The team around me is nothing but amazing, and whether we’re working with some fancy new AR solution or a topo survey, they help extract so much value from the data. The thing I love most is the ability to share what I’ve learned with others so we can push the boundaries and accelerate what we can do. Seeing this change happen is awesome.