Hello, my name is Julia Conzon

Raised in the mountains of North Vancouver and the British Columbian Kootenays, I was taught at a young age to observe my surroundings. I learned to recognize the complex interconnections between society and the environment and seek new perspectives to better understand it. Working and engaging with partners across government, academic, private, and non-profit sectors, I have continuously sought to better conceptualize place and space through co-producing user-focused (and communinty-led) geographic information systems. I’ve contributed to disaster mapping events, trained hunters on how to use GPS devices for monitoring, built models of spatial accessibility, and led a community crowdsourcing program across Canada. I believe the utility of technology extends only to the limits of its accessibility, so I always aim to design and develop products and services through a critical and equity-focused lens.

experiencetechnical skillseducationleadership awards

Experience

• GIS Program Manager

  May 2022 - Present · GIS Team, Firelight Group · Remote

  Managing community-based GIS projects and programs at the Firelight Group, an Indigenous-owned consulting group that works with Indigenous and local communities in Canada and beyond to provide high quality research, policy, planning, mapping, negotiation, and advisory services.

• Senior GIScientist

  August 2020 - May 2022 · Data Exploration and Integration Lab, Statistics Canada · Ottawa

  Senior GIScientist at Statistics Canada's Data Exploration and Integration Lab. Lead projects that apply alternative methods for passive and active data collection (e.g., computer vision, image processing, crowdsourcing) and dissemination of geographic information and services. For example, I am leading the Linkable Open Data Environment (LODE) Viewer.

• Research Assistant (Part-Time)

  August 2021 - Present · Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre, Carleton University · Remote

  Co-developed custom web-based mapping applications for Clyde River Knowledge Atlas. Contributed to training and the implementation of a monitoring system for land-based programs in Clyde River, Nunavut.

• Lead GIS Developer (On-Call)

  June 2021 - March 2022 · Nauttiqsuqtiit Research and Monitoring Project · Remote

  Co-developed a participatory mapping platform with open source software (Nunaliit SDK) to collect geographic information for conservation priorities in parts of the Canadian Arctic. Facilitated collection with participating communities and developed static maps in QGIS for reports.

• Senior GIScientist

  January 2018 - August 2020 · Data Science Division, Employment and Social Development Canada · Gatineau

  Supported evidence-based decision making through the following: researched and devised advanced geospatial techniques (e.g., calculating spatial accessibility for identifying underserved areas); designed and developed software and web apps to host statistical, analytical, and machine learning models; and, educated internally and externally on how to leverage geographic data with open source tools (FOSS4G).

  • Cleaned, analyzed, and visualized spatially-referenced survey, crowdsourced and administrative big data in R and Python (e.g., spatial accessibility index calculations for services/programs).
  • Designed and developed web apps (full stack) with Node.js or Python for pushing machine learning models into production.
  • Initialized and managed SQL and noSQL databases.
  • Developed interactive visualizations with D3.js or R for sharing research results to inform policymakers.
  • Managed product development. For example, led the design, development and implementation of an open source technology, PASS.
  • Prepared, wrote and presented presentation decks, briefing notes, and reports to upper management, with a twist (e.g., generate GIFs to demo apps, simple HTML web page as PowerPoint alternative).
• Intern (Contract)

  July - December 2017 · Data Team, Mapbox · Ayacucho, Peru

  • Remote mapped on OpenStreetMap (OSM) with JOSM and iD Editor.
  • Developed Node.js based validators to assess the quality of OSM data.
  • Developed data visualizations from OSM data and administrative data with Mapbox GL JS and React (e.g., Crimecouver and BC2020 Mapathons).
  • Organized nation-wide multi-stakeholder workshops (e.g., Building Canada 2020) as well as local community events. Check out my post on Mapbox's "Points of Interest" blog.
  • Taught English through running daily lessons to learn reading and writing, as well as immersive activities to improve listening and speaking.
• Geographic Information Systems Technician (Contract)

  February - June 2017 · Data Exploration and Integration Lab, Statistics Canada · Ottawa

  • Communicated and maintained engagement with stakeholders for Statistics Canada first crowdsourcing project.
  • Collected, managed, monitored, analyzed and visualized large administative and crowdsourced spatial datasets with R and Python.
  • Researched and designed a mobiled crowdsourcing web app as well as a method to quality assure crowdsourced building footprint data.
  • Developed a spatial server with PostGIS and Node.js for quality assurance adn web mapping services. Code can be seen on the GitHub repo.
  • Advised internal stakeholders on open data licensing and open source software.
• Full-Stack Web Developer

  August 2016 - June 2017 · Freelance · Remote

  To increase transparency on where and what different resource extraction companies are paying organizations across Canada, I was tasked to develop a real-time interactive map dashboard for Open North and Publish What You Pay Canada. To accomplish this, I collected and managed a database of payments to government organizations from extraction companies; and, with the data, designed and developed an interactive Mapbox.js map and D3.js dashboard web app. Check out the code on the GitHub repo.

  To increase the adoption of open data standards and to ultimately improve interoperabiltiy across different civic datasets, I was tasked to develop a website for Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Government Excellence. I designed and developed the user interface, managed data with a PostgreSQL database, and developed a Node.js web app hosted on Heroku. Check out the website.

• Research Assistant

  May - August 2016 · Geothink, McGill University · Montreal

  Research assistant for Geothink’s Civic Open Data Standards project. I (1) assessed Canadian municipal datasets and open data portals; (2) designed and developed a web app to host a catalog of open data standards; and (3) designed, conducted, and transcribed semi-structured telephone surveys. Code can be seen on the GitHub repo.

• Customer Relations Agent

  Summer 2015 · West Coast Reduction Ltd · Vancouver

  Responsible for customer service and invoice payments.

• Operations Agent

  Summer 2012 & 2013 · Nintendo of Canada · Vancouver

  Processed dealer returns, outbound marketing shipments, and inventory reconciliations.

Technical Skills

Education

• Master of Science - Data Science Specialization

  2020 - 2022 · Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University · Ottawa

  Thesis on critical Geomatics, co-developing web-based geovisualizations and supporting a community-led monitoring program

  Course Project:

  • Developed Convolutional Neural Network binary classifier to predict if images of building exterior pathways are "accessible" or "inaccessible" for those dependent on wheeled mobility devices. Used class activation mapping to better interpret model predictions. The scripts and model architecture are available on GitHub.
• Bachelor of Arts (Graduated with Distinction)

  2012 - 2016 · Department of Geography, McGill University · Montreal

  Majored in Geography, minored in Geographic Information Systems, Remote Sensing, and Anthropology

  Course Projects:

  • With Python, mined thousands of georeferenced tweets and then managed, analyzed, and visualized the spatial and temporal.
  • Developed a web app that automatically crowdsourced, geocoded, and visualized spatially-referenced data.
  • Developed a web app that automatically scraped, standardized, and mapped Kijiji real-estate postings.
  • Designed an online survey, coded the data, and then spatially predicted where new dumpsters should be located in Montreal.
  • Evaluated deforestation by calculating Normalized Difference Vegetation Index on time-series imagery.
  • Ran a cost distance analysis in ArcMap to identify a new hiking path in North Vancouver.

Leadership

• GIS Developer & Advisor

  2020 - 2021 · Ecology Ottawa · Ottawa

  For the Breathe Easy Campaign, published interactive web map to visualize air quality data collected for a citizen science project. Advised on spatial sampling techniques to better represent variance across Ottawa.

• GIS Analyst

  2016 · African Fisheries Climate Change PhD Thesis Project, McGill University · Montreal

  Assessed the exposure of commercially harvested African freshwater fish species to climate change by developing predictive climate models with historical precipitation and temperature data. Collected and managed large vector and raster datasets with PHP and with Python in ArcMap.

• Coordinator

  2016 · Maptime MTL · Montreal

  Organized workshops on open web maps, OpenStreetMap and humanitarian armchair mapping.

• History, Science & Math Tutor

  2012 - 2014 · Big Buddies Tutoring, McGill University · Montreal

  Tutored disadvantaged youth at Programme Mile End.

• Varisty Athlete

  2012 - 2014 · Women’s Soccer Team, McGill University · Montreal

  Won award for maintaining a high GPA (2014) and Second Team All-Star (2013).

• Volunteer Youth Leader

  2012 · Boys & Girls Club · North Vancouver

  Helped run summer programs for youth.

Awards

• Carleton University Department of Geography and Environmental Studies Auto-Carto Six Scholarship

  March 2022

• Employment and Social Development Canada Deputy Minister Award of Excellence

  December 2021

• Canadian Cartographic Association Best Student Presentation

  October 2021

• Carleton University Data Day Poster Fair Winner

  March 2021

• Dean of Graduate Studies Entrance Scholarship for Domestic Students

  2020-2021

• Duncan M. Anderson Graduate Scholarships in Geography & Environmental Studies

  2020-2021

• Carleton Graduate Scholarship

  2020-2021

• Employment and Social Development Canada Assistant Deputy Minister Award for Excellence in Innovation

  December 2019

• Employment and Social Development Canada Deputy Minister Award for Excellence in Innovation

  2019