Meet Kate Doiron, Senior GIS Analyst

Where are you from and where do you live now?

I am from the small town of Gardiner, Maine, and after living in Massachusetts for a decade, I moved back to Maine to the small town of Rockland! Rockland is on the coast between Portland and Acadia and is the home of the Maine Lobster Festival.

What do you do at FLO?

I am a senior GIS analyst and I love learning how to do anything new from designing maps to wrangling data in Alteryx to creating visualizations in Tableau and Story Maps. I also love applying those skills to our work.

 What’s rewarding about your job?

I love being able to live in mid-coast Maine and still have a very satisfying GIS career. The FLO team is the most rewarding, it’s a great group to work with every day!

Why is what you do important?

I see firsthand, both with clients and in my volunteer work, that what people mostly need is organization and clear paths forward. This might include well-designed maps, client and public education, incorporating community feedback into a boundary review process in order to make informed and transparent decisions, keeping a process moving along, or clearly showing how their data is being used. At FLO we get to provide all of these things to our clients!

What skills do you bring to your work?

Aside from GIS skills, I have a strong desire and ability to keep learning new tools and improve processes for our clients. I used to lead dog adoption events in my free time, and I currently lead birdwatching tours, so I really enjoy working with the public. Working with FLO clients in cities, counties, and school districts at the local level is very satisfying.

What’s the best advice you’ve received from a work colleague?

Overcommunicate! Especially in a virtual working environment, open communication helps project work stay on schedule and understand both the successes and frustrations of the project team.

If you were not a senior GIS analyst, what would you be?

I would try to work for the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge or one of the local land trusts doing something that gets me outside in nature. Or I would be an interior designer, I love updating my 150-year-old house!

What’s on your bucket list?

I just crossed something big off my bucket list: holding a baby Atlantic puffin! I would love to go birdwatching in Hawaii because they have so many endemic species.

What was your favorite childhood movie/TV show?

Definitely Captain Planet and the Planeteers.