About Kessler gis

 

BRUCE L. KESSLER, MS, GISP, CTT+, CTP
20414 W. Baker Rd.
Cheney, WA 99004

 

509-235-5500 (phone and fax)
509-675-0493 (cell and voice mail)

D-U-N-S Number: 048026244
TAX ID: 91-1688219

Bruce Kessler founded Kessler GIS in the spring of 2001. He emphasizes education, consulting and map production in ArcGIS Dekstop, Workstation ArcInfo, and ArcView 3.x and uses his broad-based GIS experience starting in 1985 to help clients understand the basics and work through complex GIS procedures. His business goals are:

·         Focus on client educational and consulting needs and build client self-sufficiency for long-term solutions

·         Develop GIS curricula for innovative educational solutions

·         Keep clients fully informed

·         Finish projects in a timely and cost-effective manner

 

Mr. Kessler teaches a variety of classes using materials he developed either meeting client’s specialized needs or meeting his own education program curricula needs. He also teaches classes certified by ESRI. Some of the clients requesting specialized classes include the Idaho Transportation Department, USDA Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Idaho Department of Water Resources, Idaho Department of Lands, Weyerhaeuser Corporation, HDR Inc., and Washington Closure Hanford. Mr. Kessler teaches his classes anywhere including: the web, colleges, universities, regional/national/international conferences, at client sites or by using his own mobile training lab at any location.

Mr. Kessler’s consulting projects concentrate on simple, easily implemented solutions for his clients. Some past projects were: system and database upgrades, needs assessments, database design, data conversion and maintenance, application design, contract monitoring, and programming. Additionally, he enjoys creating and teaching how to create powerful maps, repeatable GeoProcessing analyses, and well organized data management procedures. He has worked within all supported data models: coverage, shapefile, and GeoDatabases including SDE, file and personal.

Mr. Kessler also presents special seminars to diverse groups on GIS-related topics such as Managing a GIS, What is GIS?, Communicating What You Want in the GIS Techno World, etc. Many of the special topics are geared towards organized growth. He can adapt and present a variety of topics fitting client specific needs. These seminars have been presented to clients at their facilities, at conferences attended by thousands or on the web.

Sample Clients

·         City of Cordova, AK

·         Washington Closure Hanford, WA

·         USDA Forest Service Enterprise Group

·         HDR, Alaska

·         Forest Capital, WA

·         Stevens County Rural Resources Ride Share Program, Colville, WA

·         City of Kent, WA

·         USDA Forest Service

·         U.S. Timber Co., OR

·         Rural Information Technology Center, Colville, WA

·         Seneca Jones Timber Co., Oregon

·         City of Walla Walla, WA

·         National Park Service, Alaska

·         King County, WA

·         Bureau of Land Management, Montana

·         Cominco American, WA

·         Kittitas County, WA

·         Maurice Williamson Consulting Foresters, Inc., WA

·         Fluor Hanford, WA

·         Pierce County, WA

 

Professional Experience Highlights

·         Awarded ESRI Certified Desktop Associate 2010

·         Obtained CTT+ certification 2010

        ·         Obtained ESRI  CTP Version 10 certification 2010

·         Developed web-based ArcGIS curriculum for Idaho Transportation Department that continues to be offered to all users

·         Attended the 1-week URISA Leadership Academy in 2009, Seattle, WA

·         Obtained GISP certification 2005

·         Advised and educated over 25 GIS professionals working with HDR Inc. Alaska

·         Developed and wrote numerous education courses, seminars, workshops

·         Assessed and debugged ArcGIS Spatial Analyst during its initial development (2000-2001) – a challenging and enjoyable project in light of his special interest in digital terrain modeling

·         Developed an ArcView 3.x / Access application and user interface (using ODBC) for managing resource data for the National Park Service

·         Developed and helped implement a full database design for Seneca Jones Timber Co.

·         Supported numerous ESRI clients by providing specialized consulting services such as project management, database design, application programming, data conversion, and development of comprehensive training classes

·         Experience in a number of programming languages, operating systems, and software packages since his introduction to computers in 1978

·         Taught most of the courses offered by ESRI in ArcGIS, ArcInfo and ArcView until 2001 and specialized in the advanced topics for 12 years.  He developed and presented special workshops on topics including ArcGIS, ArcView, Spatial Analyst, ARC/INFO, AML, GRID, Regions, and Dynamic Segmentation

·         Contributed to a number of rewrites on various ESRI training materials

·         In 1995, ESRI manager and major author of two one-week courses for the U.S. Forest Service, which included design, writing, production, prototyping, and teaching

Background

Mr. Kessler earned his M.S. and B.S. degrees in forest resource management from the University of Idaho in 1985 and 1980, respectively. He began working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing at the University in 1980, and has been working professionally with GIS since 1985.  In 1989, he joined Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) in sales. Later, he migrated to application project manager, application programming specialist, and GIS teacher.  After twelve years with ESRI and early in 2001, Mr. Kessler resigned his position and started his own GIS consulting business based on his skills using ESRI products.  He earned his GISP license in 2005 after completing all the requirements. He became a Certified Classroom Trainer with his CTT+ certification in 2010. This was after rigorous professional classes, testing and evaluation of teaching skills.

Other Professional Experience

In 2009-10, Mr. Kessler volunteered to assist the Government of Rwanda in organizing a regional GIS conference, assisted in curricula development in Geography for K-12, and advised other interested groups in GIS applications.

In 2009, Mr. Kessler joined Teachers Without Borders to teach and help lesser developed countries with GIS and Geography curricula.

In 1998, Mr. Kessler joined the Rural Information Technology Center (RITC) in Colville, WA as a founding board member. This non-profit organization emphasized technology transfer, technology education, and job creation. RITC was instrumental in developing a cooperative effort between government and private corporations to provide fiber optic phone lines to this rural community. RITC was involved in the development of a call center and planned for a high-tech research park. Additionally, one major application area was GIS. RITC sponsored GIS training, on-the-job experience, and provided jobs for local people. RITC provided the core labor component and computers for a county wide digital parcel development effort. Mr. Kessler was most closely involved in the GIS component and volunteered many hours of his time. He left the board in 2004 to manage a RITC contract.

In 1997 Mr. Kessler became adjunct faculty at the Stevens County Learning Center for Washington State University. He taught two three-credit courses: Intro to GIS and Advanced GIS. He maintains an interest in teaching at the University and plans to do more in the future.

In 1992, while located with ESRI in Boulder, Colorado, he was adjunct faculty at the University of Denver and advised graduate students planning to enter the GIS profession.

From 1984 to 1989, Mr. Kessler was a senior remote sensing and GIS analyst for the Idaho Department of Water Resources working on:

·         Managing the early design for a water management GIS database for the State of Idaho

·         Writing and securing contracts with state and federal agencies and private businesses

·         Analyzing Landsat MSS data using various software and performing statistical analysis on the results

·         Digitizing and mapping land cover, land use, transportation, hydrography, PLS lines, and political boundaries

·         Maintaining and supporting ARC/INFO software on PCs and VAXstations

·         Training and advising co-workers in ARC/INFO

He was a research associate for the College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Range Sciences at the University of Idaho and managed the University's Remote Sensing Lab from 1981 to 1984.  He also flew, processed, printed, and analyzed aerial photographs in various formats and film types for a number of different forestry, agricultural, fisheries, and soil studies.  As a teaching assistant, Mr. Kessler taught laboratory sessions for aerial photo interpretation and photo processing techniques.

During 1981-82, Mr. Kessler worked for the Idaho Lands Department as a resource management lead worker.  He was a forest technician for the U.S. Forest Service–Region 1, from 1979 to 1980 and a forester's aide for Stadt Boeblingen, West Germany, in 1973.

 

Formal Education

 

·         Master of Science (Forest Resource Management) University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, 1985

·         Bachelor of Science (Forest Resource Management) University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, 1980

Professional Boards, Committees, Volunteer Organizations and Achievements

·         Advisor to Excellence in Education on GIS technologies in Rwanda 2009 - present

·         Northwest GIS Users Group Board Member, 2010 – present

·         Board member for Global Hart Foundation 2010 - present 

·         Advisor to Lisa Holmes, Area Health Education Center of Eastern Washington for Washington State University, on GIS technologies, education and curriculum design for global use in schools 2008-2009

·         GIS Certification Institute, 2005  #00048531

·         URISA Intermountain GIS Conference Workshop Coordinator: Coeur d'Alene, ID 2009

·         Northwest GIS Users Group Annual Conference Workshop Coordinator: Spokane, WA 2010; Sun Valley, ID 2008; Tacoma, WA 2007; Spokane, WA 2006

·         Founding board member: Rural Information Technology Center, 1998-2004, Colville, WA

·         Chair for the Society of American Forester's GIS Working Group, 1995–96

·         Chair-elect for the Society of American Forester's GIS Working Group, 1993–94

·         Xi Sigma Pi, National Forestry Honor Society