During the URISA Annual Business Meeting on Friday, October 2, 2020, URISA President Keri Brennan announced that Rachel Rodriguez, GISP was recognized as the URISA Young Professional of the Year for 2019 and that Christina Brunsvold, GISP was recognized as the URISA Young Professional of the Year for 2020.
Both Rodriguez and Brunsvold are alumni of the USC M.S. Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIST) Program offered by the Spatial Sciences Institute (SSI). Rodriguez completed her M.S. GIST degree in 2015 and Brunsvold completed her M.S. GIST degree in 2019.
They have been serving as members of the URISA Vanguard Cabinet of Young GIS Professionals, a URISA initiative to support the engagement of NextGen GIS leaders in URISA and the GIS profession. As Vanguard members, they have contributed to URISA programming and to representing the priorities of young GIS professionals as they gain traction in their careers.
Rodriguez is a senior GIS analyst and coordinator of the Countywide Address Management System (CAMS) for Los Angeles County, California.
Brunsvold is an information technology specialist with the California Highway Patrol in Sacramento, California. She is president-elect of the Northern California Chapter of URISA. Brunsvold shared the 2020 honors with Alex Lopez-Rogina, GISP.
Brennan’s announcement was part of the celebratory wrap-up to the conclusion of the 2020 first-ever virtual GIS-Pro Conference.
“On behalf of the USC Spatial Sciences Institute, we are incredibly proud of both Rachel and Christina. We congratulate them on these well-deserved honors. And from my vantage point on the URISA Board of Directors, I’m looking forward to having both Rachel and Christina continue as leaders within URISA,” said Susan H. Kamei, SSI managing director and secretary of URISA.
