Where Am I, Exactly?

It’s no secret that Baton Rouge and the surrounding parishes are
home to some of the largest petrochemical plants in the world.
We’re also a hub of activity when it comes to climate and
resilience because of our sinking coastline and rising seas in an
era of climate change. The intersection of these vast and
important fields create some interesting opportunities for
companies that also are based here and training young people to
work in those companies in the future.


 Mark Fallon is CEO of APTIM, a Baton Rouge-based company
that provides engineering, program management, environmental
services, disaster recovery, complex facility maintenance, and
construction services to clients in in the energy sector, as well
as governments and the military.


APTIM was spun off several years ago from CB&I, which, many
in Baton Rouge may remember, bought The Shaw Group in 2013. Mark
has been at the helm of the company since April 2020, which was,
no doubt, an interesting time to start a new big challenge. But
he came armed with a wealth of knowledge and experience. Prior to
joining APTIM, Mark was president and CEO of sister companies –
Envirocon, a national remediation and deocmmisioning contractor,
and Modern Machinery, a distributor of heavy construction and
minig equipment. He also worked at CH2M and started his career in
the US Department of Energy under President Bill Clinton. 


Fran Harvey is Director of the Global Geospatial Institute, a
nonprofit organization based in Innovation Park at LSU that
teaches students to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage
and display all kinds of spatial or geographical data using the
only GIS Industry based certification program in the country.


Are you wondering, "What exactly is GIS?" Well, you're not alone.
Most people  - and that certainly includes most highschool
students - don't realize they are using GIS data every time they
pick up their smart phone and open the map app or check the
location of the Uber they’re waiting on to pick them up or the
Door Dash guy who is delivering their order. But GIS is
everywhere and the Global Geospatial Institute believes that if
young people can learn the skills that go into GIS they will be
better prepared to enter today’s workforce.


Fran was introduced to GIS technology while working as an
environmental scientist. She spent several years in disaster
response and recovery as a senior GIS analyst and decided to go
back to school for an advanced degree in the technology.


She spent more than a decade at the La Dept of Environmental
Quality as an environmental scientist and GIS analyst and went on
to use her expertise in as a GIS specialist in the aftermaths of
several gulf coast hurricanes. In 2014, Fran and her husband
founded the Global Geospatial Institute. 


Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at Mansurs on the
Boulevard. You can photos from this show by Brian Pavlich
 at itsbatonrouge.la. 


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