Margo Berendsen

Geospatial Analyst

Office: Room 306, Agriculture C
Phone: (307) 766-6649
Email: mberends@uwyo.edu

Margo Berendsen is a GIS analyst, educator, and research scientist at the University of Wyoming. She teaches courses on Geospatial Foundations, Spatial Data Visualization, and works on various research projects and GIS analysis projects. She co-authored the Wyoming Student Atlas, a publication that has been distributed to all Wyoming elementary and middle schools, and developed the Atlas into a series of standards-based interactive story maps as another K-12 education resource. She is currently working on an NSF study on how learning with GIS improves spatial thinking.

Margo received her MA in Geography from the State University of New York at Buffalo and holds a GISP from the GIS Certification Institute. She is a member of the American Association of Geographers, the Wyoming Geographic Alliance, and Women in GIS. She is an avid reader and loves hiking and riding horses in the mountains with family and friends.

More information about Margo's work >

kurtis butler

Geospatial Developer

Office: Room 326, Agriculture C
Phone: (307) 766-2532
Email: kbutler4@uwyo.edu

Kurtis Butler is a geospatial developer for WyGISC. Kurtis’ research interests include internet-based GIS applications, free and open-source GIS, historical geography, geovisualization, photogrammetry, and GIS for archaeology. In his previous work, he led a GIS lab for the Villa del Vergigno Archaeological Project, and he continues to serve as a cartographer for the Cetamura del Chianti Archaeological Project in Tuscany, Italy.

Kurtis received his B.A. in History from the University of Wyoming in 2014. He then earned an M.A. from the UW Dept. of Geography in 2018, where his work focused on GIS analyses for more in-depth visualizations and comparisons while mapping ancient Roman and Etruscan road routes. When not working, Kurtis enjoys mountain biking, hiking, rock climbing, baseball, and making maps for Dungeons and Dragons games.

Nicholas Case

Geospatial Developer

Office: Room 326, Agriculture C
Phone: (307) 766-2532
Email: ncase2@uwyo.edu

Nicholas Case has been a part of WyGISC since 2018 currently works as a Geospatial Developer. He is the development arm of the EPSCoR Micro project's Data Team and is responsible for creating and maintaining the Laboratory Inventory Management System (LIMS) designed to track samples starting from the field through analyses. Additionally, Case is a teaching assistant to Dr. Shannon Albeke in the GIST department. He helps design course content, assessments, and moderates discussion boards that interface directly with students.

Nicholas obtained his bachelor's degree of arts and sciences in anthropology from San Diego State University and an associate's degree of science in geography from San Diego Mesa College. He is currently a master's student in the GIST program focusing on learning new methods and technologies that enable researchers and decision-makers to glean information from data that may not be readily visible on its own.

Samantha Ewers

Geospatial specialist

Office: Room 323, Agriculture C
Phone: (307) 766-6207
Email: sewers@uwyo.edu

Samantha Ewers is a Geospatial Specialist for WyGISC. She joined WyGISC in 2014 as a data manager for an NSF EPSCoR grant in spatial hydrology and now spatial microbial diversity. Samantha’s primary focus has been to perform data management for academic research projects and research groups. She also assists with development and maintenance of data management for projects and applications across WyGISC. Samantha is a member of Women in GIS and holds a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from North Carolina State University. She enjoys being outside hiking and more recently gardening and is an avid quilter.

Shawn Lanning 

Geospatial Specialist

Office: Room 304, Agriculture C
Phone: (307) 766-2532
Email: sgl55@uwyo.edu

Shawn Lanning is a Geospatial Specialist at WyGISC. Shawn’s work includes management and technical support for WyGISC server infrastructure, geospatial tool and task development/automation, and user assistance for the Wyoming Geospatial Hub. He also holds an FAA sUAS (drone) remote pilot license and has research interests in collecting drone data for a wide variety of projects.

Shawn received his master’s degree from the University of Wyoming Geography Department in 2005, where he focused on developing a pronghorn migration and habitat model that allowed for updated user inputs to better reflect real world conditions. He holds the designation of GIS Professional (GISP) by the GIS Certification Institute and is a founding member of the Wyoming Geospatial Organization (WyGEO) where he served on the board for the first seven years of the organization’s existence.  Shawn enjoys hunting, fishing, anything sports related, brewing beer, and smoking/bbqing in his free time.

Jalynda Mckay

Geospatial Project Coordinator

Office: Room 326, Agriculture C
Phone: (307) 766-2532
Email: jmckay6@uwyo.edu

Jalynda Mckay is a Geospatial Project Coordinator with WyGISC, where she’s been working since 2016 designing and building geospatial web applications from start to finish. Jalynda has served as the Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Wyoming Geospatial Organization (WyGeo) and is an active member of WyGeo and Women in GIS. Her research interests include developing natural resource management tools, computer programming, and data management.  When not programming geospatial apps you can usually find her riding her mountain bike in the hills around Laramie, boating on the many rivers in the West, or skiing in the backcountry.

Luke Todd

Geospatial Analyst

Office: Room 323, Agriculture C
Phone: (307) 766-2532
Email: Luke.Todd@uwyo.edu

Luke Todd is a Geospatial Analyst for WyGISC. Luke received his MS in Agricultural and Applied Economics, and Environment and Natural Resources from the University of Wyoming in 2015. Since then he has worked as a Data Analyst for the state of Wyoming and an Assistant Research Scientist at the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center. He enjoys cycling, nordic skiing, and generally being outside.

Michelle North 

Geospatial Technician

Office: Room 319, Agriculture C
Phone: (307) 766-2532
Email: msanecki@uwyo.edu

Michelle North has been a geospatial technician at WyGISC since 2014. Projects she has worked on include the DDCT (now OneSteppe) and the UW campus map. Additionally, she developed a map to help consumers connect with local farms across the US. Michelle grew up in Casper and received her BS in Geography from the University of Wyoming. When she’s not working, Michelle enjoys spending time with her husband and dogs, gardening, and hiking in the mountains.  

Jason writer

Geospatial Developer

Office: Room 326, Agriculture C
Phone: (307) 766-2532
Email: bwriter@uwyo.edu

Jason Writer has been a WyGISC team member since 2011. Initially hired as a GIS Technician, he developed a database and desktop application to capture range-wide Redband trout distribution data and spent three months in the Northwest leading data entry workshops with teams of biologists and GIS professionals. Jason has served in several roles with the center, including Research Scientist Associate. He is currently a Geospatial Developer, where he continues to work with natural resource managers to develop web-enabled geospatial applications. He holds a GISP from the GIS Certification Institute and, when not in AG 326cc, enjoys backpacking, cycling, and playing music.