Scott Howell, GISP, PMP works in the Technology & Innovation market for KCI Technologies. He has been working in the GIS field since 1997, where he started his career as a GIS Specialist making maps and collecting and aggregating demographic data for a large commercial firm. Scott moved into the engineering and planning sector as a Transportation GIS Planner for the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission shortly after and then moved to the private sector in 2000. Scott has been working in Virginia his entire career, and has focused primarily on utilities, transportation, and land management, while also working in other vertical markets.

Scott has been involved as an attendee, speaker, and sponsor to VAMLIS with various organizations for many years. He graduated from Old Dominion University in 1997 with a Geography degree (Concentration – Urban and Regional Planning) and Old Dominion University with a Master of Business Administration degree in 2004 (Concentration – Information Systems).

Jacob Thornton, GISP is the current Vice President of VAMLIS. He served as the Map and Poster Gallery coordinator for VAMLIS conferences in 2023 and 2024 and was a presenter in 2022 and 2017.

Outside of VAMLIS, Jacob is the GIS Lead for Michael Baker International with over 20 years of experience in cartography, analysis, data management, and graphic design. He manages projects and leads the GIS efforts for Michael Baker’s Richmond-based team on projects including bike/pedestrian, traffic engineering, and transit planning studies, electric vehicle readiness, and NEPA studies just to name a few. In addition to his work with the Richmond office, Jacob leads GIS efforts for Michael Baker International projects across the company including projects in Alaska, Utah, West Virgina, and North Carolina. Prior to his work at Michael Baker, Jacob was the GIS Coordinator at Vanderbilt University where he gave GIS instruction in classes and workshops, managed software and data, and created mapping products for the university and medical center community. Additionally, he has worked as an adjunct GIS professor at VCU. He received his Bachelor of Science in Geographic Sciences from James Madison University (2004) and is a design-focused cartographer with experience using ArcGIS Pro and ArcMap, ArcGIS Online, StoryMaps, Experience Builder, global positioning systems, and the Adobe Creative Suite.

Kallie Wilkes is the current Secretary of VAMLIS and started her membership as a student moderator at James Madison University. She is a Business Analyst with GeoDecisions and is responsible for validating GIS and other application requirements and identifying and documenting business rules and workflows. Knowledgeable using experience to work with state and local government clients to elicit client needs, define goals and objectives, interpret user requirements, and translate needs into clear project deliverables and effective GIS solutions. Also responsible for working with the development team to design solution mockups, perform testing, report creation, and system documentation.

Star Carter, GISP is currently a GIS Specialist with CDM Smith Inc., based out of Fairfax, VA. I have worked in the GIS industry for 14 years with most of that time as the GIS Supervisor for a public authority in northern New York. My GIS work has centered around municipal infrastructure, helping local governments manage their water, sewer, storm water, highway, telecommunications, electric, and landfill data, but I also specialize in helping municipalities with GIS strategic planning, gap analysis, and asset management projects. While in NY, I served on the Regional Committee for the New York State GIS Association for a few years and enjoyed that experience.

I am new to Virginia and only moved here in October 2024, but shortly after getting settled I joined VAMLIS and co-presented at the VAMLIS conference in Williamsburg. I would very much like to get involved with a local GIS organization and intended on joining a VAMLIS committee, but when I saw the call for officers email this morning, I decided to jump right into a board nomination. If I’m not elected to the board, I will happily join a committee to gain some experience with VAMLIS and meet more local GIS people.

The GIS industry moves so quickly, and it seems like it does not take too long to feel like an “elder” amongst one’s colleagues. Reminiscing about the wonders of MapBooks while trying to keep up with the latest Experience Builder functions and Utility Network schemas is daunting, but our chosen field is special for exactly that mix of experience and newness. Young people come out of university with the latest tools and technology and inject freshness into the standard processes in the real world. Colleagues that have been in the industry for a long time carry the institutional knowledge and power of “been there, seen that error” and can guide everyone into the joy of being a GIS Professional.