Helping put TU on the geospatial technology map
Junior Shilah Bremond has found plenty of opportunities through geography and environmental planning major
By Kyle Hobstetter on November 1, 2023
In high school, Shilah Bremond thought she would go to college for a “classic career,” like nurse, doctor or lawyer.
But when she got there, she found a passion she never expected—geography. Now a junior at Towson University, Bremond is majoring in geography and environmental planning with a minor in GIS and computer science in the College of Liberal Arts.
The Waldorf, Maryland, native started her college career as an environmental science major at UNC-Charlotte. Right before she transferred to TU, she changed her major to geography, which she never thought was something she could major in.
“Sometimes I forget that at one point I didn’t even know studying geography was a thing,” Bremond says. “I went from not knowing about this program to getting these incredible opportunities, just by focusing on what I like. It’s been pretty amazing.”
She is concentrating on the geospatial technology side of the major, focusing on GIS mapping. GIS, which stands for geographic information systems, are computer-based tools that are used to store, visualize, analyze and interpret geographic data.
Those who specialize in GIS mapping can work in a variety of fields, including federal and local government, public transportation, agriculture, architecture, construction, electrical engineering and even natural disaster mapping.
This past summer, Bremond, had an internship with Vertex Inc., a tax compliance software and services company. There she was part of the company’s GIS team.
“I wasn’t going to apply at first because I didn’t know how GIS could fit into the tax sector,” Bremond says. “But after my interview, I saw they do some really cool things with district and jurisdiction mapping.
“ And not only was the team at Vertix really nice, they also taught me a lot about the software. I found that even now when I’m in some of my GIS classes, I already know how to do the lesson plan because I learned it in my internship. ”
Bremond has also gotten plenty of other opportunities at TU. She is a research assistant with Carter Wang, an assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Planning.
The two are working on the MarylandView Initiative, which helps promote geospatial research and education. This led to one of her favorite moments while at TU, where she helped with a summer camp hosted on campus to get high school students interested in geospatial research.
The four-day camp brought participants from throughout Maryland to experience special lectures, activities and even a field trip to NASA.
Wang and Bremond will start a new research project in the spring, and the professor is excited to continue working with a student possessing a strong work ethic and a passion for geospatial technology.
“Shilah is a self-motivated and ambitious student, setting a commendable example for her peers at TU,” Wang says. “Her dedication to research, proactive attitude toward internships and leadership abilities make her an exceptional role model for our university community.”
“ It’s nice to have a professional like Dr. Wang in your corner who really does want to make your life better as a student and as a future professional. He helps me just by sending opportunities or helping me figure out what are the best classes to take. ”
And by working with Wang, Bremond found a campus club that matched her passion for geography. For the past year, she has served as the president for Towson University’s chapter of YouthMappers.
It is a global network of universities that cultivates future generations of leaders and cartographers by capitalizing on web-based, open-source geospatial technologies. YouthMappers has more than 320 chapters in 67 countries.
Bremond says the group does a lot of exercises involving disaster response mapping. The last project the group participated in involved emergency response to earthquakes that happened in Morocco.
So not only does Bremond get to practice her future career, she also gets leadership experience.
“I've joined other clubs, but being president and being able to plan events, it’s great to get that experience,” she says. “And it also goes along with what I want to do career-wise. It has been really nice to work on GIS mapping outside of the classroom and also implement what I'm learning back into the classroom.”
