GeoDecisions Celebrates Dave Gilbert's 30-Year Odyssey
/Dave Gilbert, GISP, the third employee ever hired here at GeoDecisions, marks 30 years with us in 2017. That's a really big deal. As our longest standing employee, Dave has built lifelong trusted-adviser client relationships, lasting GeoDecisions friendships, and made an indelible impact throughout the water, transportation, and facility business lines of our parent company, Gannett Fleming.
Awesome '80s
Dave's journey with us started January 2nd, 1987. For history buffs such as myself, think Ronald Reagan and the Cold War, Madonna and actual music on MTV, and $0.89 for a gallon of gas. Of particular significance, of course, GeoDecisions was just a year old.
Since the late '80s, Dave has evolved into his current senior project manager role, providing local governments and utilities with a career's worth of expert geospatial advice. Responsible for GIS database development and data analysis for clients throughout the U.S. and abroad, he is no stranger to travel and adventure.
A GIS Brand Ambassador
Dave and daughter Olivia volunteer their time to help restore land near Little Fishing Creek as part of the "Adopt-a-Farm" program.
In recent years, Dave worked as an analyst on the team that created Malaysia’s national water management dashboard. Closer to home, he helped provide the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA) with GIS asset management solutions to better understand WMATA's transit mapping and facility data.
From a myriad of successful projects to community volunteerism and environmental stewardship throughout State College, Pennsylvania, where I first started with our company, Dave has influenced our industry time and again.
For example, Dave has cultivated a more than 20-year relationship with Hanover County, Virginia (GeoDecisions' longest running client), while helping to develop GIS public policy for Pennsylvania that will influence our profession for years to come.
A GeoGeek At Heart
In the Government space, Dave is our corporate lead for Esri's ArcGIS Online for Local Government and ArcGIS Online for Water programs. He manages GIS needs assessments, strategic planning, data conversion, environmental modeling, state and local government work, and commercial application projects. When building relationships, Dave often cites client satisfaction and using GIS technology to make life easier as the most rewarding aspects of his job.
A fellow alum from The Pennsylvania State University, where he earned a bachelor of science in Wildlife Science, Dave serves as past president and board member of the Pennsylvania Mapping and Geographic Information Consortium (PAMAGIC) and is the first representative from PAMAGIC to the newly formed Pennslyvania Geospatial Coordination Board. Dave also serves as a steering committee member of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection North Central Regional Citizens Roundtable.
An Active Family Man
Dave, 2nd from left, with the rest of the 2017 PAMAGIC board members.
When not driving GIS industry initiatives, Dave enjoys quality family time with his wife, Wendy, and their teenage daughter, Olivia. The family lives in an 1850's farmhouse, in Madisonburg, PA, that he and his wife have worked on over many years to restore to its original form. Dave is also an avid hunter, whether it's deer, turkey or small game.
Want to know more about Dave? Check out his bio here.
