Curriculum Vitae

Benjamin Mearns

4234 Chestnut St. Apt 3 R
Philadelphia PA 19104

651-283-2002

mearns@sas.upenn.edu

 

Skills

ESRI ArcMap

Expert, 6 years
  • Extensive use in mainly academic research settings, but also directed application for public and private institutional clients
  • Experience with all license levels and most geoprocessing tools
  • Spatial Analyst, Geostatistical Analyst, Network Analyst, 3D Analyst
  • ArcScene, ArcGIS Explorer
  • Some practical experience with geodatabase workflows

 

ESRI ArcGIS Server

Beginner, 1 year
  • Custom Web Mapping Applications with SDK and Visual Studio.NET
  • Full install and configuration of a remotely accessed, shared ArcGIS server (IIS)

 

HTML and CSS

Expert, 10 years
  • Flexible knowledge of HTML, with experience in business, government, not for profit, and institutional sectors
  • Dynamic and static site construction
  • Use of CSS for design and function

 

Adobe CS2

Expert, 8 years
  • Experience in graphic design, print production, and web production environments
  • Photoshop, GoLive, Premiere, ImageReady, InDesign, Illustrator,
  • Slice based websites
  • Layout, modification, and enhancement of print quality maps

 

JavaScript

Intermediate, 4 years
  • Building scripts from the bottom up and modifying exemplary code
  • Strong ability to infer based on example
  • Focus on user interaction and dynamic content via the DOM

 

PHP

Intermediate, 4 years
  • Full web applications
  • Modification of shopping cart and inventory systems such as Zen Cart
  • File and feed manipulation and parsing
  • Mostly procedural but can also work in an object oriented environment

 

SQL

Intermediate, 2.5 years
  • Basic query skills for both programmatic and manual data manipulation
  • MS SQL Server, MySQL, and Postgresql
  • Spatial datatypes and functions, especially via PostGIS

 

Flash

Intermediate, 3 years
  • Navigation, user interface, and animation projects

 

Eviews, Matlab, R, SRSS, Stata, JmpIn

Intermediate, 4 years
  • Significant experience in econometric and geostatistical analysis
  • Integrating statistical evidence with geographical representation
  • Some programmatic experience

 

VB/.NET and VBA

Intermediate, 3 years
  • Basic syntax, decision-making, variable typing
  • Experience with user interfaces via Visual Studio .NET and VBA

 

JSON, KML, RSS, XML

Beginner, 1 years
  • Data driven web mapping and mashups

 

AJAX

Beginner, 0.5 years
  • For fully featured web applications
  • Using SAJAX library for PHP

 

SketchUp

Beginner, 0.5 years
  • 3D models of structures and artifacts
  • Integrated landscapes via ArcGIS
  • Textures and materials

 

Plone CVS and Zope Application Server

Beginner, 0.3 years
  • Managing workflow in an academic setting among many contributors for a content rich site
  • Setup and configuration
  • Some experience with Zope DTML, smarty templates, and modules

 

Experience

Jun 2007 - current 

Research Staff

Penn Cartographic Modeling Laboratory

  • Develop dynamic web pages to communicate geospatial data availability and requests
  • Manage and transform geographic information to facilitate database and map creation
  • Create thematic maps for client reference based on custom request

 

Mar 2002 - current 

Private Practice

  • Develop standards compliant web sites in HTML and DHTML
  • Build and alter interfaces and dynamic sites with JavaScript, PHP and SQL
  • Process and manage data in relational databases
  • Design multimedia elements for web consumption
  • Troubleshoot and configure PC and Mac hardware and software

 

Jan 2004 - May 2004 

GIS Intern

Neighborhood Planning for Community Revitalization

  • Process raw data into base and thematic maps for use and dissemination by Saint Paul District Councils

 

Jan 2003 - May 2005 

Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellow

Macalester College

  • Perform oral interviews and an extensive literature review on Indonesian migration and land tenure
  • Produce report and maps of findings

 

Oct 2002 - May 2005 

GIS Laboratory Assistant

GIS Laboratory, Macalester College

  • Assist students and researchers with GIS and ArcMap related questions and tasks
  • Create maps and supporting documentation for use by the instructor

 

Jun 2001 - Aug 2001 

Web and GIS Intern

Lexington County Planning and Development

  • Develop a website used to organize planning codes and associated ordinances
  • Gather GPS data, including center-lines for new parcels, via Trimble ArcPad GPS devices
  • Observe an award winning production environment utilizing ArcIMS and other ESRI software, and participate in an ESRI conducted training session
  • Attend community planning meetings

Education

Sep 2006 - current 

University of Pennsylvania

MS Urban Spatial Analytics

 

Jun 2005 - Aug 2005 

University of Wisconsin

Indonesian Language, Third and Fourth Semester

 

Sep 2001 - Sep 2005 

Macalester College

BA Geography and Economics

 

Projects

Jun 2006 - current 

healthBase

Penn Cartographic Modeling Laboratory

  • Web application to communicate geospatial data availability and requests for University of Pennsylvania Health System patient-level diagnostic records

 

Jun 2006 - current 

dinoride.com

  • Web application for dynamic ridesharing, based on third party structured data and spatial functionality via PostGIS

 

Jun 2006 - current 

Supergrit

  • Massive ASP and SQL Server shopping cart based site expansion
  • Creation of pages in ASP. Creation, manipulation, and management of SQL data based on paper catalogs

 

Dec 2005 - Jan 2006 

The Motivation Corporation/IDC WebDev

  • Expansion of dynamic site based on ZenCart. Form based data entry of new entries in PHP.

 

 

Mar 2002 - Aug 2006 

Mayo Clinic/The Story Laboratory

  • Development of Gynocology-Oncology Priority Book, an interface for rapid on-site research upon diagnosis
  • Data processing and entry of timely rare disease information within a dynamic site for the Physicians Genomics Project
  • Occasional layout and design work for clinic publication
  • Hardware and software troubleshooting and configuration

 

Selected Lectures

·         “Web Mapping Workflows for Collaborative Academic Projects.”   University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (2007 Nov 12)

 

Selected Abstracts

  • Mearns B. Web-Based Mapping of Aghtamar Church and its Surroundings in Eastern Turkey. Paper Presentation, Byzantine Studies Conference Annual Meeting. 2007. University of Toronto.

 

  • Mearns B. Differentiated Growth: A Geographical Approach to Institutional Development : Evidence from Indonesia, Nigeria, and Mexico. Paper Presentation, South East Asian Summer Studies Institute Student Conference. 2005. University of Wisconsin.

 

  • Lund L, Lacayo-Emery M, Mearns B, Ofsevit A , and Sokol A. GIS Analysis of Foreclosures in the Twin CiIties. Paper Presentation, Minnesota Academy of Science Annual Meeting. 2004. St. John’s University.