2026 WA GIS Conference: Full Schedule

8:30am PDT

Tuesday May 19, 2026 8:30am - 5:00pm PDT

GIS management is part of the knowledge economy – a system driven by knowledge, innovation, information, and experience. Intellectual capital is a GIS manager’s most valuable asset. But our intellectual capital must be nurtured by lifelong learning, professional connections, and shared experiences.

Speakers

Greg Babinski, MA, GISP, EthicalGEO Fellow

GIS Management Consultant, GIS Management Consulting Services LLC

Greg Babinski is a GIS management consultant and founder of GIS Management Consulting Services LLC and the GIS Management Academy™, located in Edmonds, Washington. Between 1998 and 2021 he served as GIS Manager, GIS Finance Manager, and GIS Marketing & Business Development Manager... Read More →

Tuesday May 19, 2026 8:30am - 5:00pm PDT
403

Workshop

10:30am PDT

Using risk & condition to develop asset management strategy

Wednesday May 20, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am PDT

403

Providing safe, sustainable water, wastewater and stormwater solutions is a critical priority for community leaders, utility managers and a reasonable expectation of citizens. Many utilities rely solely on age based deterioration to forecast asset condition and replacement strategies. This session will discuss best business practices for incorporating risk and physical condition into your asset maintenance strategy. Risk is defined as Probability of Failure and Criticality of Failure. Maintenance workers can score their assets based on these risk factors to better understand potential impact to services provided. Furthermore, adding condition assessment based on physical deterioration of assets helps prioritize where the maintenance dollars should be spent.

Speakers

Raymond Chow

Regional Sales Manager, Trimble

Raymond has been with Trimble for 2 years in his role as Regional Sales Manager working with Local Government agencies across the Pacific Northwest. Raymond has been focusing has been helping local governments agencies understand Asset Lifecycle through the Trimble Unity Suite software... Read More →

Wednesday May 20, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am PDT
403

Sponsor, Trimble

11:00am PDT

Happy Citizens and Empowered Agencies Using GIS Permitting Technology

Wednesday May 20, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am PDT

403

For public agencies, applying for permits, licensing and rights-of-way often results in long lines, overloaded phone systems and frustrated citizens. Incomplete application data causes repeated follow-ups, and chasing information. Agencies can make better decisions, streamline payments, and make the overall process easier for their citizens. In this session, you’ll learn how Trimble Unity Permit, powered by Cityworks PLL, leverages GIS and accelerates better community development, land use, and public infrastructure.

Speakers

Brett Ruoti

Director of Sales - West, Trimble

Brett has been with Trimble/Cityworks since 2016 in his role as Director or Sales for the Local Government across the United States. His primary focus has been helping local governments achieve greater coordination, accountability and efficiency through implementing Cityworks as the... Read More →

Wednesday May 20, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am PDT
403

Sponsor, Trimble

11:30am PDT

Modernizing Valuation: Leveraging GIS to Improve Assessment

Wednesday May 20, 2026 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT

403

Explore how Assessors are using GIS to enhance valuation accuracy, uncover inequities, and improve efficiency across the assessment process. Learn how configurable maps and data-driven workflows support the analysis of sales, help assess the impact of special assessments, and provide deeper insight into neighborhood trends. See how tracking parcel history over time adds critical context for valuation decisions and supports transparency. Discover how these capabilities come together as part of a broader strategy to modernize land records management and streamline assessment operations.

Speakers

Kyle Wikstrom

Solutions Director, Pro-West & Associates

Kyle Wikstrom is a GIS Solutions Director with over a decade of experience leading teams in the design and delivery of scalable GIS solutions. He focuses on solution strategy, organizational alignment, and helping leaders understand how GIS can drive long-term value across their... Read More →

Wednesday May 20, 2026 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
403

Sponsor, Pro-West

1:30pm PDT

Using GIS to Understand Tribal Treaty Rights

Wednesday May 20, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT

403

The Tulalip Tribes were signatories of the Treaty of Point Elliot, 1955. This treaty established the Tulalip Tribes Reservation as well and provided for access to treaty reserved resources, including "hunting and gathering roots and berries on open and unclaimed lands". It further reserved "[t]he right of taking fish at usual and accustomed grounds and stations". Interpreting these words onto maps is one of the primary requests I receive from outside organizations and proves to be one of the most challenging components of my job. In this session, I will explain a few ways I have worked through these challenges and how non-tribal GIS professionals can better support tribes, treaties, and tribal treaty rights.

Speakers

Michelle Totman

Environmental Data Coordinator, The Tulalip Tribes

Michelle Totman has been working for the Tulalip Tribes Natural Resources Department for over a decade. In this time, she has had the honor of working with tribal members, Natural and Cultural Resources staff, and legal advisors to develop maps that help others understand the complexities... Read More →

Wednesday May 20, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT
403

Explorations in GIS, Advocacy

3:00pm PDT

Building Statewide GIS Career Pathways to Agriculture and Natural Resources

Wednesday May 20, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT

403

Agriculture and natural resource (ANR) jobs are expected to increase in Washington, yet employers struggle to find applicants with the skills needed to succeed in this industry. Our presentation will describe how PEI works with employers, K-12 and post-secondary education, and tribes to use GIS to build ANR Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways that address employer-identified barriers to recruitment and retention. 92% of CTE program participants graduate from high school, vs. 86% of all students; students who focus on ANR CTE pathways are more likely to earn a postsecondary credential; and students who complete more than one ANR CTE course earn higher wages after high school.

GIS skills are transferrable across jobs in forest management, restoration ecology, education, aquaculture and fisheries, urban and community forestry, and water resource management. Working with Joanne Pearson (WaTECH) and Washington’s Employment Security Department, we’ve identified 66 Standard Occupational Classification codes that relate to GIS and ANR jobs. ANR career pathways provide opportunities for the future workforce to gain meaningful employment in rural and urban communities, and ANR job skills transfer across all industry sectors, further increasing the value of this field to our state economy.

A Riverview School District teacher will share his experiences using GIS in a hands-on ANR CTE program that offers entry level job skills, participation stipend, and a statewide industry recognized credential. Our GIS StoryMap shows the impact and growth of the summer programs.

Our session will gather feedback from GIS employers and provide ways to be involved in developing the new statewide GIS CTE pathway. Session findings will be presented to our statewide GIS CTE writing team in spring 2026. We'll submit a follow-up proposal for the 2027 WAGISA conference to present final pathways with recommendations for training the next generation for GIS careers.

Speakers

Heather Spalding

Associate Director of Green Jobs, Pacific Education Institute

Heather Spalding is PEI's Associate Director of Green Jobs and Career Connect Washington’s sector leader for agriculture and natural resources. She builds career pathways with K-12 districts, employers, tribes, and workforce and post-secondary partners. She has developed sustainability... Read More →

Daniel Cuevas

Jeffry Rhodes

STEM Teacher, Riverview Learning Center

Jeffry Rhodes is a Math/Science/CTE Teacher at the Riverview Learning Center in Carnation, WA. He taught the restoration ecology-focused summer Youth Engaged in Sustainable Systems (YESS) program in partnership with Riverview School District, WANIC Skills Center, Mountains to Sound... Read More →

Wednesday May 20, 2026 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT
403

Sponsors & Career, Career

4:00pm PDT

From Maintenance Burden to Innovation Engine

Wednesday May 20, 2026 4:00pm - 4:30pm PDT

403

Organizations today face a growing gap between the potential of their GIS investments and how their teams spend their time. While modern GIS platforms enable advanced analytics, real-time insights, and emerging technologies like AI, many teams remain focused on system maintenance and administration.

This session explores the “innovation paradox,” where operational demands limit the ability to innovate. It highlights how organizations can shift from a maintenance-heavy model to an innovation-driven approach by rethinking how their GIS environments are managed.
We will examine how a managed services model can reduce operational overhead, improve system reliability, and provide access to specialized expertise. By freeing internal teams from routine administration, organizations can accelerate adoption of advanced capabilities and focus on delivering meaningful, data-driven outcomes.

Attendees will leave with a clear framework for transforming GIS into a strategic driver of value and innovation.

Speakers

James Gutierrez

Account Executive, Cybertech

James Gutierrez is an Account Executive at CyberTech Systems and Software with eight years of experience helping state and local governments get more from their GIS investments. His work focuses on modernizing geospatial environments so teams can spend less time managing systems and... Read More →

Wednesday May 20, 2026 4:00pm - 4:30pm PDT
403

Sponsors & Career, Cybertech

8:30am PDT

Hexagon Content Program – off-the-shelf aerial ortho imagery and elevation data

Thursday May 21, 2026 8:30am - 9:00am PDT

403

The HxGN Content Program, Hexagon’s aerial data program, offers the largest library of aerial imagery and elevation data across the United States. Hexagon designs and integrates airborne sensors, schedules and flies aerial missions, as well as processes the data using optimized software to the highest levels of photogrammetric and radiometric quality. This presentation provides highlights of the Content Program and focuses on some of the applications of the data.

Speakers

Rob Eadie

Partner Manager, Hexagon

Rob Eadie joined the Hexagon Content Program in 2021 as Partner Manager. Rob has spent his entire career in the geospatial industry working in the areas of aerial/satellite photogrammetry, satellite remote sensing, airborne LIDAR and IFSAR mapping, with a variety of roles in production... Read More →

Thursday May 21, 2026 8:30am - 9:00am PDT
403

Sponsor, Imagery

9:00am PDT

‘My Job Would be Impossible Without GIS!’ GIS Makes the Impossible Possible

Thursday May 21, 2026 9:00am - 9:30am PDT

403

In conducting various GIS return on investment studies, I utilize the ‘with versus without’ GIS ROI methodology developed by Professor Richard Zerbe of the University of Washington Evans School of Public Administration. With this methodology we ask GIS users to estimate how much time it would take them to do their job tasks without GIS. Although most users can conceptualize an answer to this question, with surprising frequence GIS users say that they cannot. They claim that ‘my job would be impossible without GIS.’
This presentation breaks down what this means and how indeed we can develop an answer to the question. GIS professionals should grasp both the underlying power of GIS and the powerful message that GIS-Power provides society. GIS makes the impossible possible!

Speakers

Greg Babinski, MA, GISP, EthicalGEO Fellow

GIS Management Consultant, GIS Management Consulting Services LLC

Thursday May 21, 2026 9:00am - 9:30am PDT
403

Sponsor, Advocacy

9:30am PDT

A GIS Workflow for 3D Printing Topographic Models

Thursday May 21, 2026 9:30am - 10:00am PDT

403

Digital elevation models are primarily interacted with through a screen, but they can become powerful physical tools for visualization, teaching, and storytelling. This presentation explores the creation of tangible 3D printed topographic maps, transforming digital elevation data into physical models that make landscapes easier to interpret and engage with.

Building on a session presented at GIS in Action last year, this updated talk expands the workflow and lessons learned from additional experimentation and projects. We will walk through a practical pipeline for turning elevation data into printable terrain models, including sourcing DEM data, preparing and modifying terrain surfaces, exporting printable meshes, and producing final prints.

The workflow will demonstrate techniques using both ArcGIS Pro and QGIS, as well as web-based tools, to convert elevation rasters into printable geometry. The session will also introduce the fundamentals, including how printers operate, key components, and an overview of the current consumer printer landscape. Along the way we will discuss scale, vertical exaggeration, mesh resolution, printer limitations, and other design considerations that influence how terrain translates from raster data to physical form.

By the end of the session, attendees will understand the conceptual and technical steps required to move from DEM to printed object and will leave with practical knowledge for creating their own tactile terrain models.

Speakers

Noah Flick

Geospatial Mapping Hardware Representative, Frontier Precision

Noah Flick is a geospatial professional in the Pacific Northwest whose work focuses on the systems that transform satellite signals into usable spatial data. He works with Frontier Precision at the intersection of GIS, surveying, and GNSS, with a particular focus on field instrumentation... Read More →

Thursday May 21, 2026 9:30am - 10:00am PDT
403

Sponsor, Topo

10:30am PDT

Celestial Infrastructure: The History, Science, and Future of Global Satellite Positioning

Thursday May 21, 2026 10:30am - 11:30am PDT

403

In 1957, physicists at Johns Hopkins listened to Sputnik’s radio beacon and unintentionally laid the groundwork for satellite navigation. What followed was one of the most ambitious engineering efforts in modern history: a constellation of satellites, atomic clocks, control stations, and launch campaigns that has evolved for more than four decades.

This presentation traces the development of satellite positioning from its Cold War origins through the construction of GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou, examining how each constellation was architected, launched, and sustained in orbit, how military systems evolved into global civilian infrastructure, and how the underlying geometry, atomic timekeeping, and signal architecture combine to deliver the positions we depend on daily. It then explores the augmentation systems built on that foundation, including RTK, PPK, WAAS, and PPP, the technologies that push raw GNSS accuracy from meters to centimeters. Each is defined by its own tradeoffs, infrastructure requirements, and ideal applications.

Looking ahead, the session turns to what comes next: GPS III’s new civil signals, LEO-based augmentation that could upend the base station model, and the spoofing and jamming vulnerabilities of a system the modern world cannot function without. Together, these developments reveal GNSS not as a finished technology, but as an evolving global utility.

By understanding the history and architecture behind GNSS, geospatial professionals gain clearer insight into both the power and the limitations of the coordinates they collect, and a better sense of how positioning itself is being redesigned for the decades ahead.

Speakers

Noah Flick

Geospatial Mapping Hardware Representative, Frontier Precision

Thursday May 21, 2026 10:30am - 11:30am PDT
403

Sponsor, GPS

11:30am PDT

Connecting and Empowering Communities Through Map Guides to Inventory Trees Within Their Communities

Thursday May 21, 2026 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT

403

As cities try to mitigate the effects of rising urban heat due to climate change, many have turned to creating Urban Forestry Management Plans (UFMPs). However, UFMPs require extensive tree inventories that catalog trees to assess management costs, tree health concerns, and potential hazards. Creating tree inventories can be prohibitively expensive and a barrier for communities with fewer resources. Therefore, many municipalities have turned to volunteer-led community-based tree inventories, which can alleviate data collection costs. However, managing volunteers can be challenging over large spatial scales, requiring careful planning and resources for guiding participation. Proactively creating ‘neighborhood maps’ that guide volunteers would be helpful, but there is a lack of open-source documentation on how to plan and create such guides for volunteers to use during an urban tree inventory. Through the Grit City Tree Count project, we used ArcGIS Pro and created 24 neighborhood maps across Tacoma using accessible, cost-effective methods based on city published Right-of-Way (ROW) maps and Google Street View. Additional guidance and metrics were added to these maps, including highlighted streets to follow, hazards to avoid, meeting locations, known trees, street names, accessible restrooms, and any other vital information for volunteers conducting tree inventories. Sharing these methods for guiding volunteers will help city managers interested in delivering cost-effective alternatives for urban tree inventories and help empower communities to start their own tree planting initiatives or UFMPs.

Speakers

Nelson Pham

Research Technologist, WSU Urban Forest Health Lab

Nelson Pham is an undergraduate student at the University of Washington School of Environmental and Forest Sciences studying Environmental Science and Terrestrial Resource Management. He works part-time as a Research Technologist at the Urban Forest Health Lab at Washington State... Read More →

Thursday May 21, 2026 11:30am - 12:00pm PDT
403

Sponsor, Advocacy

1:30pm PDT

ArcGIS for Real-Time Winter Weather and Street Sweeping Operations

Thursday May 21, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT

403

ArcGIS Street Sweeping and Winter Weather Operations empower public works agencies to monitor real-time service activity, measure performance, and keep communities informed. By tracking sweeper and snowplow routes, organizations can improve service levels, meet regulatory requirements, and optimize responses to storms and seasonal conditions. Sharing clear schedules and status updates increases transparency, supports resident planning, and strengthens public trust. Together, these solutions streamline operations, enhance roadway safety, and help agencies manage resources efficiently while maintaining cleaner, safer, and more resilient transportation networks.

Speakers

TJ Abbenhaus

Senior Solution Engineer, Esri, Inc

TJ Abbenhaus, Esri Solution Engineer: He is a Senior Solution Engineer specializing in imagery, remote sensing, and geospatial workflows across the ArcGIS platform. With deep experience helping government agencies modernize legacy imagery systems, TJ focuses on guiding organizations... Read More →

Thursday May 21, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT
403

Sponsor, Esri

2:30pm PDT

Understanding post-truth GIS

Thursday May 21, 2026 2:30pm - 3:00pm PDT

403

Post-truth is a slippery synthesis of knowledge claims, science, activism, politics and media.; it represents an uncomfortable shift in how our society produces and validates geographic reality. This presentation introduces a multidisciplinary framework based on identity, meaning, transfer and appropriation. The framework is grounded in GIScience and illustrated with cases of post-truth GIS opportunity and disruption in the Pacific Northwest related to shoreline management, best available science, citizen activism and institutional collaboration. Finally, we propose a stance for building post-truth resilient GIS shifting from defensive accuracy to proactive understanding through transparency, epistemic scaffolding, and methodological provenance, coupled with the cultivation of distributed networks for knowledge transfer.

Speakers

Gene Martin

GIS consultant, Independent

Gene is a GIS solutions expert and educator with over 20 years of experience in environmental modeling, sustainability planning, and geospatial education. A former instructor for the University of Washington’s certificate program and UWSP department of geography , Gene’s work... Read More →

Thursday May 21, 2026 2:30pm - 3:00pm PDT
403

Explorations in GIS, Imagery

2026 WA GIS Conference

Success you have shared X tickets.

2026 WA GIS Conference

8:30am PDT

Greg Babinski, MA, GISP, EthicalGEO Fellow

10:30am PDT

Raymond Chow

11:00am PDT

Brett Ruoti

11:30am PDT

Kyle Wikstrom

1:30pm PDT

Michelle Totman

3:00pm PDT

Heather Spalding

Daniel Cuevas

Jeffry Rhodes

4:00pm PDT

James Gutierrez

8:30am PDT

Rob Eadie

9:00am PDT

Greg Babinski, MA, GISP, EthicalGEO Fellow

9:30am PDT

Noah Flick

10:30am PDT

Noah Flick

11:30am PDT

Nelson Pham

1:30pm PDT

TJ Abbenhaus

2:30pm PDT

Gene Martin

Get help with the event