Becky Shumate was born and raised in the West Texas oil patch town of Odessa. She thought she wanted to be an Engineer until my second year of Physics, so she settled for a B.A. in Mathematics from Austin College in Sherman, Texas. She had always been partial to trees, especially being from the flatlands of West Texas, so a M.S. in Environmental Science emphasizing Earth Resources from Texas Christian University was a natural step. Her first job out of graduate school was a GIS Technician position with PennWell MAPSearch. Once they got her in the door, they locked it behind her. Her career with PennWell MAPSearch has lasted 12 years and going strong. Over the years, she has held a variety of positions ranging from an entry-level GIS Technician to Quality Assurance Manager and currently the Operations Manager. She became a certified GISP in December of 2008 and was granted an ESRI Desktop certification for Version 10.0 in July 2010. She is currently a GITA member and one of the GITA representatives on the GIS Certification Institute’s (GISCI) Board of Directors. She is also heavily involved with the GISCI/GISP outreach committee.