23 Young Geospatial Professionals to Watch in 2023 – 14 of 23

Name: Adailin Lebron Bengochea
Company: City of Grapevine, Texas
Current position: GIS Engineering Specialist
Age: 33             

Education: MA Geo in GIS, Texas State University; BS in Geography and Anthropology, The University of Texas at Austin

Although Bengochea has always enjoyed a good map and navigating atlases during family road trips, her passion for GIS began during her time at the Archeological Field School in Belize. The use of remote sensing to locate archeological digs fascinated her, and she began taking courses in GIS. Bengochea decided to pursue a higher education focusing on GIS and gained a masters of Applied Geographic Information Science from Texas State University.  

The master’s program gave her that extra nudge of knowledge to feel confident in a GIS career path. During this time, she began interning with AECOM and was offered a full-time position upon completion of her degree. She worked at AECOM for about three years and became involved with the URISA Texas chapter. 

Bengochea then spent two years working for the city of Plano, Texas, a city with very modern GIS technologies and practices. She gained an incredible amount of knowledge and experience and has since moved on to become the GIS Engineering Specialist for the Public Works Department at the City of Grapevine, where she lives. She is passionate toward her local community and is making waves with GIS uses amongst the Grapevine Public Works Department.  

Bengochea continues to volunteer with URISA Texas, where her role in the chapter has grown. She is now serving as the chair of URISA Texas and has loved watching the organization thrive. Since her involvement with the chapter the organization has increased in size and community impact. She wants to continue being a GIS advocate in a professional and personal level.