Surveyor Says! The NSPS Podcast

Episode 77 - Are you fully caffeinated and ready for an energetic guest? Then this episode is for you! Our guest this week is Sherry Toutges, a professional land surveyor from CA.

Are you fully caffeinated and ready for an energetic guest? Then we have the episode for you! “Surveyor Says! The NSPS Podcast” introduces us to Sherry Toutges, a professional land surveyor from California. She recently joined Tim Burch to share her career highlights from discovering surveying at Fresno State University to her current role at Caltrans. Sherry talks about providing training to new employees and utilizing her teaching skills for promoting the NSPS Trig-Star program. She also talks about the importance of mentors in surveying and how effective listening and useful criticism is key to creating great relationships. Sherry also reminded us how important being involved with your surveying associations helps building lifelong professional relationships.

We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with Sherry and look forward to seeing her back in action with upcoming Trig-Star competitions. Thanks for listening to a busy episode of “Surveyor Says!” The NSPS Podcast.

Episode 76 - The NSPS Podcast” brings a behind-the-scenes talk with the NSPS Federal Lobbyist, John “JB” Byrd.

In the past, NSPS has brought you conversations with our Government Affairs about the issues, but what about the people behind the work? “Surveyor Says! The NSPS Podcast” brings a behind-the-scenes talk with the NSPS Federal Lobbyist, John “JB” Byrd. He recently joined Curt Sumner and Tim Burch for an in-person interview after our first non-virtual NSPS Executive Committee meeting in 18 months. JB shares his background into his political career to becoming a federal lobbyist; from growing up on a farm and orchard to working as a staffer on Capitol Hill, he allows a peek into his philosophy of how business, politics, and our lives in the US interact to get things done. He explains the role of lobbyist and how developing long-lasting relationships with legislators AND staffers is key to the success of our political endeavors.

Besides being able to record in a face-to-face environment, it was a pleasure to hear JB provide great insight into the sometimes-aggravating world of US politics. Thank you for tuning into this great sit-down with JB, Curt & Tim on this episode of “Surveyor Says!”

Episode 75 -Tim Burch catches up with Nolan Mark, a professional surveyor licensed in Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan. He currently leads the ISPLS Young Surveyor Network.

This episode of “Surveyor Says! The NSPS Podcast” catches up with Nolan Mark, a professional surveyor licensed in Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan. He currently leads the ISPLS Young Surveyor Network and coordinates their monthly “Roundtable Tuesdays” featuring guest speakers and happy-hour networking. He recently put up his own shingle, On the Mark Surveying, based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, all while he and his wife are busy raising two young boys. Nolan recently chatted with Tim Burch to discuss how an opportunity to job shadow led to his interest in surveying, how mentoring has played an important role in his career development, and his plan on carrying the survey torch by paying it forward. He shares his thoughts on the crucial role surveyors fill in today’s business world and how geospatial data is embedded in everything surveying.

Thank you for listening to this great conversation with Nolan as we appreciate your time for listening to this episode of “Surveyor Says!”

Episode 74 - This episode reviews the successes of the NSPS 2020 legislative initiatives.

NSPS Government Affairs Consultant John Palatiello and NSPS Lobbyist JB Byrd join host Curt Sumner to review the successes NSPS has enjoyed during its 2020 legislative and federal agency outreach.

Episode 73 - Join host Curt Sumner as he has an interesting conversation with Brian Anderson, The Tick Terminator.

Is Lyme the only disease ticks carry? The answer is a big “No”, but Lyme does deserve a lot of PR for many reasons. The CDC claims that there are about 400,000 new cases each year in the United States. To put that in perspective, that is 1.5 times the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer each year, and 6 times the number of people diagnosed with AIDS each year. During the last 25 years the New England area has seen a 300% increase in Lyme cases, and some of the upper mid-west Great Lakes states have seen a 250% increase during the same period of time.

The most important thing to remember is that if by chance someone is bitten by a tick and experiences a bad reaction to the bite, such as achy joints, flu-like symptoms, maybe a bulls-eye rash, etc. do not put off seeing a doctor!!! Early detection and treatment is absolutely critical. Proper treatment is normally with antibiotics which usually fixes it in the early stages. Remember, though, these diseases never go away on their own, they only get worse.

www.TheTickTerminator.com or 906-271-0063

Episode 72 - As we wind down Women’s History Month, it is fitting that our final guest is exceptional in her own right. It is our pleasure to have Dominica VanKoten, Chief Cadastral Surveyor, BLM

As we wind down Women’s History Month for 2021, it is fitting that our final guest for this special month is exceptional in her own right. NSPS appreciates our longstanding partnership with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), so it is our pleasure to have Dominica VanKoten, Chief Cadastral Surveyor for the BLM. Prior to her current position, she led the Eastern States Office for BLM from 2008 to 2019. Dominica recently connected with Tim Burch to discuss how being interested in drafting and math in high school introduced her to surveying, her career path with the BLM, and current duties as Chief Cadastral Surveyor. She shared insights on many of the Bureau’s responsibilities and how important the Public Land Survey System is to the public.

NSPS and “Surveyor Says!” The NSPS Podcast would like to tip our cap to all women in the surveying and geomatics industry for a job well done. We appreciate your efforts and look forward to growing the profession with you. Thanks for listening!

Episode 71 - Our guest this week is Galen Scott from the National Geodetic Survey (NGS).

Happy National Surveyor’s Week!

Our guest this week is Galen Scott from the National Geodetic Survey (NGS). As the Constituent Resources Manager, Galen is involved with many of the tools and programs going on within NGS. He chatted recently with Tim Burch about the GPS on Benchmarks program and how important having crowdsourced data is for completing the geoid base for the 2022 datum changes. Galen also announced the new features to the OPUS programs, including a simplified way for bluebooking significant control stations AND the feature to upload RTK data to incorporate with your OPUS solutions. Lots of great stuff coming out of Silver Spring!

This is the first in a new series with Galen and lots of great things from NGS so stay tuned for even more! Thanks again for listening to “Surveyor Says!” The NSPS Podcast.

Episode 70 - In keeping with the theme of Women’s History Month, our very special guest for this episode is Juliana Blackwell, Director of the National Geodetic Survey (NGS).

In keeping with the theme of Women’s History Month, our very special guest for this episode is Juliana Blackwell, Director of the National Geodetic Survey (NGS). She recently talked with Tim Burch to share her career path leading up to her current position at the helm of the nation’s oldest federal science agency. From her days on a NOAA research ship, in the field with a survey crew collecting geodetic information, to the floor of the United Nations coordinating geopotential reference frames, Juliana’s story is fascinating and inspiring. She reiterates the importance of the need for upgrading the national spatial reference system (NSRS) to steer our future of autonomous guidance.

We are proud of our partnership with Juliana and NGS, so thanks for listening to this episode of “Surveyor Says!” The NSPS Podcast.

Episode 69 - Our 2nd episode for Women’s History Month goes “down under” with a lovely chat with Peta Cox, an Australian surveyor based in New South Wales.

Our second episode for Women’s History Month goes “down under” with a lovely chat with Peta Cox, an Australian surveyor based in New South Wales. She recently time warped with Tim Burch (a 17-hour time difference!) to discuss the similarities of surveying on either side of the Pacific Ocean. Peta talked about her early interest in being outside being key to her choosing land surveying, teaching introductory surveying classes all about the basics, and coming back to the private sector to oversee survey projects throughout southeastern Australia. She also shared how her love for the profession urged her to start the “Defining Boundaries” podcast to capture the stories of surveying for memorializing forever. (Look for the podcast on all major streaming services.)

Thanks again to Peta for taking time out of her busy schedule to be featured here on “Surveyor Says!” The NSPS Podcast.

Episode 68 - With March being Women’s History Month, we start strong with our “Future Focus” series and welcoming Sarah Walker, a dynamic Nevada Young Surveyor.

With March being Women’s History Month, we start strong with our “Future Focus” series and welcoming Sarah Walker, a dynamic Nevada Young Surveyor who recently passed both of her NCEES exams. She recently sat down with Tim Burch to discuss how she was introduced to surveying, how she enjoys doing boundary retracement, and weekends on her dirt bike finding new mountain trails. Sarah also shares how important having a mentor is to her professional development and working towards being able to teach surveying in the future. She also talked about the success of building the Nevada Young Surveyors Network (50+ members!) through networking and sharing experiences.

The future of surveying will be bright with more young professionals like Sarah and we appreciate her being our guest here on “Surveyor Says!” The NSPS Podcast.