Regional Advisor, National Geodetic Survey, NOAA/NOS Alaska, USA

Alaska is a land of extremes, a land of both challenges and opportunities for the bold and adventurous. A combination of rapid plate tectonics, active volcanoes, glacial rebound, and remoteness makes mapping, surveying, and geodesy often extremely challenging. Nicole “Nic” Kinsman is the regional advisor for the National Geodetic Survey (NGS), the U.S. federal agency charged with stewardship of the national spatial reference system. As the boots on the ground (and in the air) for the NGS, Nic has been praised for rapidly evaluating the geodetic resources in the state, engaging local stakeholders and the surveying community, and connecting with state and local entities.

An adventurer and private pilot, Nic is also widely published as author and co-author on peer-reviewed and other scientific papers, is a recipient of many awards, and is a speaker and seminar-presenter. After earning her undergraduate degree in geology from Colgate University, then a doctorate in Earth and planetary sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz, Nic worked for the U.S. Geological Survey and Alaska Department of Natural Resources before joining the NGS.

This profile is one of 40 in xyHt’s 2018 Outlook issue.  Click on the image below to read more.