Geodesign Program Has First Graduate

This summer, our Penn State Geodesign Program will have it's first Masters in Professional Studies graduate!  We want to extend a big congratulations to Shannon McElvaney, who will be attending graduation ceremonies in State College this weekend. 

McElvaney has traveled and lived around the world for his work in GIS mapping and geodesign. Originally from California, he has worked and resided in Spain, Hawaii, Abu Dhabi and currently in Colorado. Due to the online program’s flexibility, he was able to continue working as the Community Development Manager at Esri (a GIS software company) and currently as the Geospatial Information Officer at WISRD (a startup working in resilient infrastructure) while completing his Geodesign master’s degree.

Says McElvaney: "“Geodesign models how the world works – like the flow of water across the landscape, or the flow of traffic.” By using the data and a rational framework, one can see how the design interacts with those existing processes. “Then you can add people’s input on top of it and see if it performs as desired.”

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