Geospatial Jobs and Career Center

Alicia Simonti

• Experience Level: 3 Years
• Location: Huntsville, AL
• Last Updated: August 30, 2012

Experience

Professional Experience:

Senior Geospatial Analyst and Project Manager, December 2008 – September 2011
MDA Information Systems Inc. (Formerly Earth Satellite Corp.), Gaithersburg, MD
•  Collaborated with Conservation Management Institute foresters to collect forest plot data in southern Belize as well as collect land cover field data for REDD+ project.  Performed 15 year LULC and deforestation analysis utilizing Landsat and RapidEye satellite imagery.  Worked with CMI GIS analyst to develop geographic reference area.
•  Produced geospatial component of REDD+ project for concession in the Democratic Republic of the Congo including LULC and deforestation analysis and reference area development while training a junior analyst in procedures of REDD+ geospatial analysis.
•  Perform preprocessing, land cover classification, historical change analysis and accuracy assessment utilizing Landsat, RapidEye, GeoEye and WorldView imagery for carbon mitigation and various international agricultural analyses.
•  Project manager for a ten plus member team working on a ~$900K contract supporting crop estimates through analysis of high resolution aerial imagery.
•  Part of a small team that analyzed the feasibility of using micro-hydrological, wind and/or solar renewable energies for nine remote communications/radar sites as part of a USTDA-funded project for the Civil Aviation Administration of Colombia (UAEAC)
•  Mentor and train incoming Geospatial Analysts, Research and Development, Marketing
•  Carbon mitigation Program Development
•  Developed and implemented procedures for global land cover classification for a $13M+ project, as well as managed and trained 25+ member team

Remote Sensing Consultant, January 2008 – April 2008
Winrock International, Turners Falls, MA
•  Performed preprocessing, classification and change analysis of remotely sensed imagery for land change assessment/deforestation for carbon mitigation

Software Tester, Research Assistant and Writing Assistant, April 2007 – August 2008
IDRISI, Clark Labs, Worcester, MA
•  Tested IDRISI’s Land Change Modeler extension for ArcGIS including LULC prediction and species distribution modeling
•  Tested IDRISI Taiga, specifically algorithms for image time series and Earth trend analysis
•  Assisted in writing Help section and Tutorials for IDRISI
•  Analyzed and explored Reynolds OI SST and SeaWiFS Ocean Color imagery sets utilizing various time series statistics and trend models

Teaching Assistant, Spring 2007 and Fall 2007
Clark University, Graduate School of Geography, Worcester, MA
•  Taught laboratory sessions for Earth Systems Science (GEOG 104) and Weather, Climate and Landforms (GEOG 014) to undergraduate students
•  Graded weekly assignments

Marine GIS Spatial Analyst – Special Services Contract, February 2006
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research, Beaufort, NC
•  Processed and analyzed bathymetric sensor files utilizing ArcGIS 9.1 for volumetric modeling and injury recovery modeling and forecasting for the NOAA Mini-312 Damage Assessment and Restoration Program

Research Assistant for H. Allen Curran, June 2003 – May 2005
Smith College Department of Geology and the
Environmental Science and Policy Program, Northampton, MA
•  Geologic field work for paleoclimate and paleoenvironment studies
•  Compiled, created and edited image materials including photographs, maps, charts and diagrams for published papers and research presentations
•  Assembled PowerPoint presentations for undergraduate classes

Coordinator of Students, January 2003 – May 2005
Smith College, President’s House, Northampton, MA
•  Scheduled, supervised and trained undergraduate student workers for formal functions

Marine and Coastal Field and GIS Intern for Mark Fonseca, Summer 2004
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research, Beaufort, NC
•  Performed damage assessment fieldwork within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary of seagrass injuries caused by boats utilizing GPS, GIS, underwater videography and transect data collection
•  Re-designed the assessment protocol and processed GIS and GPS data utilizing ArcGIS 8.3 for spatial and bathymetric analysis and modeling

Teaching Assistant for David Stillman, ESS 901-05 SCUBA Diving I, Spring 2004
Smith College, Northampton, MA
•  Assisted with SCUBA skills and exercises

Research Assistant and Student Teacher, Summer 2003
Coral Reef Ed-ventures, Smith College and Hol Chan Marine Reserve (HCMR),
San Pedro, Belize, CA
•  Taught 7-11 year old local children about coral reef, seagrass and mangrove ecology and conservation utilizing arts and crafts, games, field trips and classroom instruction
•  Participated in a teacher workshop: collaboration among Smith College faculty, students, and Belizean educators to explore means of integrating the local ecology into the strictly mandated Belizean curriculum
•  Collected data and assessed benthic coral reef health along Mesoamerican (Belizean) Reef to assess success of HCMR utilizing SCUBA, GPS and transect data

Education:

Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA
•  MA in Geographic Information Science for Development and the Environment, October 2008
•  Master’s Thesis:  The 2005 Caribbean Mass Coral Bleaching Event:  A Sea Surface Temperature Empirical Orthogonal Teleconnection Analysis

Smith College, Northampton, MA, USA
•  BA in Geology with focus in Environmental Science, May 2005
•  Ada Comstock Scholars Program
•  Independent Research:  Sea Stars Get Down!!  The Trace-making Activity of Sea Stars:  Long Island Bahamas. Produced film of burrowing sea stars in a shallow carbonate marine bay

Quinsigamond Community College, Worcester, MA, USA
•  AA in Liberal Arts (High Honors), May 2002

General Information

Skills:

•  Technical Experience:  ERDAS Imagine versions 8.7, 9.1, 9.3, 2010; IDRISI Andes and Taiga; ESRI ArcGIS Suite versions 8.1, 8.3, 9.1, 9.3 (including Spatial Analyst and 3D Analyst extensions); ENVI 4.6.1; Final Cut Pro; Adobe Photoshop; Adobe Illustrator; Statistica; Microsoft XP Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, FrontPage, Access); GPS Pathfinder Office; Trimble Pro XR with TSCI Datalogger; Lowrance LCX-15MT sonar; comfortable with VBA and UNIX
•  Field Experience:  geologic analysis; coastal, marsh, seagrass, benthic and coral surveying; underwater transect data collection; GPS data and ground truth collection; forestry plots

Publications:

Simonti, A.L. and Eastman J.R., 2010.  The 2005 Caribbean Mass Coral Bleaching Event:  A Sea Surface Temperature Empirical Orthogonal Teleconnection Analysis, Journal of Geophysical Research – Oceans, doi:10.1029/2010JC006233

Voegeli, V.J., Simonti, A.L., and Curran, H.A., 2006, Seasonal Sediment Transport and Unusually Large Spit Development at Sandy Point, San Salvador Island, Bahamas, in Proceedings of the 12th Symposium on the Geology of the Bahamas and other Carbonate Regions:  San Salvador, Bahamas, Gerace Research Center, p. 233-240.

Contact Information

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