Young professionals are the future of Australia’s geospatial sector.

Continuing our series of interviews with up-and-coming and early career professionals in the Australasian geospatial community, this week we speak with Dan Kennewell.

Dan is from Adelaide, where he chose to study GIS at university, a specialism that saw him spend time on the other side of the world in Sweden during his studies.

Today he works as an environmental GIS analyst for the South Australian government.

Please tell us about your background

I have always lived and worked in Adelaide, and it is an amazing place to be. I enjoy hiking through and camping in South Australia’s amazing national parks. I enjoy sports such as American football and snowboarding and I am hoping to plan a trip to Canada or New Zealand soon for a holiday.

When, where and which geospatial discipline did you study?

I studied a Bachelor of Applied GIS at Flinders University. I began my degree in 2017 and graduated in 2020 after a semester exchange in Sweden at Uppsala University. This exchange primarily focused on environmental and ecosystem management topics.

I have had the opportunity to apply my skills in disciplines such as the environment, infrastructure and asset management.

Why did you decide to study this? What was the attraction?

I always enjoyed geography and technology through high school and discovering this degree seemed like an opportunity to do both. The various software programs, scripting and automation is applied to complex problems involving geographic solutions, which has always been what I enjoyed that about this work.

Where are you working now?

I currently work as a Senior GIS Analyst for South Australia’s Department for Environment and Water. I work in the Geospatial Environment Data and Information unit, which helps many other disciplines in the Department with their geospatial needs.

The portfolio covers a vast number of interesting opportunities to apply GIS, such as in environmental management, monitoring and data collection, plus water, infrastructure, land and fire management and climate change.

What do you enjoy about working in this field?

It is an extremely diverse profession with applications in almost every professional sector today. These include construction, health, finance and business, environment, mining and resources, weather and many more.

What are your career ambitions?

I currently wish to continue my learning in both technical and professional skills. I have always had an interest and admiration for aviation and space, which is a big part of the geospatial industry, and Adelaide is setting up capabilities in these areas, which is very exciting. I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds within the geospatial sector.

What advice would you give to a young person considering a geospatial career?

There is always a new opportunity to utilise the power of geospatial capabilities, new emerging technology to learn and problems to solve. Keep an open mind and strive to continue to learn something new every time an occasion arises.

Anything else to add?

Thank you to the Spatial Source team for all the coverage on geospatial happenings across Australia and the world.