ESRI, a well-known supplier of GIS software, web GIS, and geodatabase management applications, offers a wealth of useful resources at its Web site. For example, What is GIS? (https://www.esri.com/en-us/what-is-gis/overview) provides information on the basics of GIS, GIS training, and GIS specialties. You should also check out the company’s blog, https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/blog, which covers industry trends and discusses real-world uses of GIS and other geospatial analytics technologies.
Talk to geospatial analytics specialists about their work. Perhaps you could participate in a job shadowing experience in order to observe a specialist on the job. Ask your geography teacher or school counselor for help setting up a learning opportunity.
Job responsibilities for geospatial analytics specialists vary by their level of experience, educational background, employer, and employment sector, but most specialists collect and analyze geospatial, geographic, and remote-sensed data; prepare maps, graphs, charts, cartograms, and reports that show historical changes, current trends, and other information; and present this information to colleagues and managers. They also maintain or modify existing geospatial information databases and provide technical expertise regarding geospatial analytics technology to clients or users. Some specialists write algorithms to better identify and analyze pertinent information, while others design software that is used to collect and analyze data and prepare reports.
Here are a few examples of the work of geospatial analytics specialists in various employment sectors.