Matthew Pierce '14

Since graduating from Dartmouth Matthew spent his career in the private sector working primarily on geospatial data and derivative products. Even though people typically react to him telling them he studied Geography in college with a bit of surprise and curiosity, it has proven to be a pragmatic and relevant major in the real world. He's been directly using the problem solving skills and background he developed at Dartmouth in the Geography department to produce data solutions and products that help solve important problems for customers across several countries and many industries. GIS and mapping has been a fantastic area of study, a fruitful career path and has afforded me cool opportunities. He's done field work in the remote areas of the San Gabriel Mountains of LA County CA and  worked on highly accurate aerial imagery datasets. He's been able to lead a team. He's seen firsthand how a Liberal Arts training with some specific skill/knowledge base can be a powerful combination with which to tackle diverse problems, think critically and quickly, and be able to translate concepts to a wider audience.

Through this career Matthew has also been introduced to new concepts and skills such as Kaizen and project management. He's inspired by how many industries and sectors are using big data (especially geospatial data) to improve decision-making, create jobs, and solve environmental problems we face today.

In his free time, he's been continually absorbed by outdoor hobbies and pursuits including endurance sports and traveling to new places. His interest in the physical landscape drives him to continue to bike, run, and ski every place that he can. He's been fortunate to see a variety of new places in our country as well as travel to South America and Europe. For fun here is an image (credit: Strava) showing his progress of cycling around every Finger Lake in NY which were carved by the last major glacial period about 10,000+ years ago. There are 11 lakes and the bottom of Seneca Lake is below sea level,  618 ft deep! Because the depth of the water and the microclimate it creates, some of the world's best dry Riesling can be made here. Geography is awesome, right?