Michael Gilbrook

Background

About Michael Gilbrook

If I had to choose a single job title that captures my career it would be "Professional Problem Solver."​ With degrees in Limnology (read:"freshwater ecology"​) and Biological Science, I began my post-grad school career as an environmental scientist with the Florida DOT. While there I wrote SAS and FORTRAN routines for diverse applications: analyzing water quality data, monitoring lateral movement of a roadway surcharge for the Materials Lab, tracking EEOC compliance in the HR office, or modifying a 2D hydrological model for an estuary circulation study. While serving as the FDOT representative to the Governor's Indian River Lagoon Committee, I recognized an opportunity to be involved in environmental issues at a more strategic level. I joined the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council to write the Conservation element of their first comprehensive regional policy plan. It was there that I found my true calling in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Since everything in the natural and built environment has a "place in space,"​ I realized that GIS was a powerful tool to examine a wide range of spatially explicit planning problems. After several years of using GIS for regional planning, I jumped to the private sector with HDR in 1993, when the company had fewer than ten GIS users. As a GIS analyst and GIS manager I worked on major projects in environmental planning, transportation, water resources and solid waste across the USA. As HDR's first Geospatial Technology Director, I guided the company's GIS technology roadmap and helped grow the GIS practice to include over 700 users. Along the way I mentored dozens of geospatial professionals, including hundreds of alumni of the college courses in GIS that I teach at the University of Central Florida. In August 2021, I became a full-time Lecturer at UCF teaching both GIS and environmental studies courses. I'm thrilled to be shaping the next generation of GIS and environmental professionals!