ilgisa 2020 awards
One role ILGISA plays is to formally recognize individuals and groups who have contributed to the betterment of GIS in the State of Illinois. ILGISA accomplishes this by distributing a variety of awards each year.
ILGISA is happy to announce the 2020 Award Winners are as follows:
ILGISA is happy to announce the 2020 Award Winners are as follows:
- Keith Nightlinger - Dahlberg Distinguished Achievement Award Winner
- ILGISA NG911 Committee - Service Award Winner
- Glen Wetterow - Service Award Winner
- Tamara Freihat - Service Award Winner
- Zach Healy, Western Illinois University - Outstanding Student Award Winner
- Clint Quigley, Western Illinois University - Outstanding Student Award Winner
- Kevin Stock, DePaul University - Outstanding Student Award Winner
- Jenna Gonzales, DePaul University - Outstanding Student Award Winner
- Logan Bundy, Northern Illinois University - Outstanding Student Award Winner
2020 Dahlberg Distinguished Achievement Award Winner:
Keith Nightlinger
Keith Nightlinger has been a fixture in the Illinois GIS Community for roughly 25 years. His career has taken him all over the state, starting in the suburbs of Chicago, at Motorola, where he worked as a digital cartographer. After that he traveled back down state in his Alma matter, Southern Illinois University, to work at the Southern Five Regional Planning District and Development Commission. It is there that his GIS skills blossomed, as he helped design and implement the GIS for the five-county area.
He later returned to the suburbs of Chicago, where he worked five years as a GIS Analyst for DuPage County and attended DePaul University where he received his Master’s in 2004. A year long stint at Walgreens followed, where he helped develop Walgreens GIS applications before he settled into the GIS Manager role of City of St. Charles, IL. In St. Charles, Keith took a program in its infancy and developed it into a cutting edge and robust municipal GIS that was the recipient of the ESRI Special Achievement in GIS Award in 2017.
While Keith’s, career speaks for itself, his involvement in the GIS community in Illinois is equally impressive. Keith has been a fixture at both local regional meetings and ILGISA events since the late 1990’s. If there was a forum to share GIS experience, he was there sharing his knowledge. Often, he procured meetings with GIS vendors and hosted regional meetings of his own to provide a platform for further GIS discussion in the community. His involvement in ILGISA led to committee participation and eventually he was elected to the Board of Directors in 2011. Keith’s time as a board member led to his Presidency in 2013 where he helped migrate the organization to a new management company and an improved ILGISA content structure.
Over the past 2 ½ years Keith has participated in the ILGISA NG911 Committee. In his time on the committee Keith chaired the Policy and Procedures sub-committee, which organizing the effort that created a comprehensive Policy and Procedures document for the State of Illinois. Keith also fostered a working relationship between the State and ESRI to provide a cutting edge, ArcGIS Hub solution for the State’s project.
In the summer of 2019, Keith took another step to solidify the growth of GIS in Illinois as he accepted a position as an Adjunct Professor at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Taking on the role of shaping the future minds of Illinois GIS, Keith developed and teaches the Introduction to GIS course. For Keith Nightlinger, GIS is more than a career, it is a passion, a passion that he has shared and enriched our community with over the last three decades.
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Keith Nightlinger
Keith Nightlinger has been a fixture in the Illinois GIS Community for roughly 25 years. His career has taken him all over the state, starting in the suburbs of Chicago, at Motorola, where he worked as a digital cartographer. After that he traveled back down state in his Alma matter, Southern Illinois University, to work at the Southern Five Regional Planning District and Development Commission. It is there that his GIS skills blossomed, as he helped design and implement the GIS for the five-county area.
He later returned to the suburbs of Chicago, where he worked five years as a GIS Analyst for DuPage County and attended DePaul University where he received his Master’s in 2004. A year long stint at Walgreens followed, where he helped develop Walgreens GIS applications before he settled into the GIS Manager role of City of St. Charles, IL. In St. Charles, Keith took a program in its infancy and developed it into a cutting edge and robust municipal GIS that was the recipient of the ESRI Special Achievement in GIS Award in 2017.
While Keith’s, career speaks for itself, his involvement in the GIS community in Illinois is equally impressive. Keith has been a fixture at both local regional meetings and ILGISA events since the late 1990’s. If there was a forum to share GIS experience, he was there sharing his knowledge. Often, he procured meetings with GIS vendors and hosted regional meetings of his own to provide a platform for further GIS discussion in the community. His involvement in ILGISA led to committee participation and eventually he was elected to the Board of Directors in 2011. Keith’s time as a board member led to his Presidency in 2013 where he helped migrate the organization to a new management company and an improved ILGISA content structure.
Over the past 2 ½ years Keith has participated in the ILGISA NG911 Committee. In his time on the committee Keith chaired the Policy and Procedures sub-committee, which organizing the effort that created a comprehensive Policy and Procedures document for the State of Illinois. Keith also fostered a working relationship between the State and ESRI to provide a cutting edge, ArcGIS Hub solution for the State’s project.
In the summer of 2019, Keith took another step to solidify the growth of GIS in Illinois as he accepted a position as an Adjunct Professor at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Taking on the role of shaping the future minds of Illinois GIS, Keith developed and teaches the Introduction to GIS course. For Keith Nightlinger, GIS is more than a career, it is a passion, a passion that he has shared and enriched our community with over the last three decades.
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2020 Service Award Winner:
ILGISA NG911 Committee
Over the past 2 ½ years, ILGISA has worked with the State of Illinois 911 Administrator, Cindy Barbera-Brelle, to develop the GIS portion of the state’s NG911 conversion project. In the beginning of 2018, the ILGISA Board of Directors reached out to the state to offer resources on the project. The state accepted that invitation and the ILGISA NG911 Committee was born. The following committee was comprised of ILGISA members from across the state and various roles in GIS:
William Barrett – City of Marion, IL
Eric Creighton – City of St. Charles, IL
Mike DiGiannantonio – Dupage County, IL
Mary Elliott – Dupage County, IL
Brandon Lacey – McLean County ETSB
Phil McCarty – Jacksonville, IL
Keith Nightlinger – City of St. Charles, IL
Chad Sperry – Western Illinois University GIS Center
Eric Venden – Village of Gurnee, IL
Mark Yacucci – Illinois State Geological Survey
The names above went above and beyond over the course of a year to compile research and create the policies and procedures and data standards for the State’s NG911 GIS initiative. Upon the completion and presentation of those documents, some committee members moved on, and some new committee members were invited in to discuss and develop training, data deliveries, review, and maintenance. In addition to some of those from the original committee, the following volunteered their valuable time:
Rob Hursey – Madison County, IL
Peter Schoenfield – Lake County, IL
Eventually a partnership with ESRI was formed, and in the beginning of 2020 the following group worked with ESRI and the state to develop an ArcGIS Hub that would serve as the information gateway to the project. This group would also continue to work on the data delivery method, validation, personnel training, and communication efforts that were involved. To this day, the following group continues to work tirelessly to bring the state’s NG911 GIS to a successful conclusion:
Eric Creighton – City of St. Charles, IL
Jack Matthews – Illinois State Police
Keith Nightlinger – City of St. Charles, IL
Peter Schoenfield – Lake County, IL
Chad Sperry – Western Illinois University GIS Center
Mark Yacucci – Illinois State Geological Survey
ILGISA would like to applaud all of those involved and thank them for their time and efforts given to this extremely important GIS project for our State.
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ILGISA NG911 Committee
Over the past 2 ½ years, ILGISA has worked with the State of Illinois 911 Administrator, Cindy Barbera-Brelle, to develop the GIS portion of the state’s NG911 conversion project. In the beginning of 2018, the ILGISA Board of Directors reached out to the state to offer resources on the project. The state accepted that invitation and the ILGISA NG911 Committee was born. The following committee was comprised of ILGISA members from across the state and various roles in GIS:
William Barrett – City of Marion, IL
Eric Creighton – City of St. Charles, IL
Mike DiGiannantonio – Dupage County, IL
Mary Elliott – Dupage County, IL
Brandon Lacey – McLean County ETSB
Phil McCarty – Jacksonville, IL
Keith Nightlinger – City of St. Charles, IL
Chad Sperry – Western Illinois University GIS Center
Eric Venden – Village of Gurnee, IL
Mark Yacucci – Illinois State Geological Survey
The names above went above and beyond over the course of a year to compile research and create the policies and procedures and data standards for the State’s NG911 GIS initiative. Upon the completion and presentation of those documents, some committee members moved on, and some new committee members were invited in to discuss and develop training, data deliveries, review, and maintenance. In addition to some of those from the original committee, the following volunteered their valuable time:
Rob Hursey – Madison County, IL
Peter Schoenfield – Lake County, IL
Eventually a partnership with ESRI was formed, and in the beginning of 2020 the following group worked with ESRI and the state to develop an ArcGIS Hub that would serve as the information gateway to the project. This group would also continue to work on the data delivery method, validation, personnel training, and communication efforts that were involved. To this day, the following group continues to work tirelessly to bring the state’s NG911 GIS to a successful conclusion:
Eric Creighton – City of St. Charles, IL
Jack Matthews – Illinois State Police
Keith Nightlinger – City of St. Charles, IL
Peter Schoenfield – Lake County, IL
Chad Sperry – Western Illinois University GIS Center
Mark Yacucci – Illinois State Geological Survey
ILGISA would like to applaud all of those involved and thank them for their time and efforts given to this extremely important GIS project for our State.
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2020 Service Award Winner:
Glen Wetterow
At this time of need, Glen has worked to digitize & 'mapify' all the East Peoria housing authority forms and ensure security for the participants. Over the last year he has prioritized the GIS needs of other city departments over his own. Earlier in 2019 Glen worked with the Illinois Housing Development Authority to create a Survey123 application that created a more efficient digital survey for their yearly assessment of housing stock. He's always willing to help and has become an exceedingly important part of city government.
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Glen Wetterow
At this time of need, Glen has worked to digitize & 'mapify' all the East Peoria housing authority forms and ensure security for the participants. Over the last year he has prioritized the GIS needs of other city departments over his own. Earlier in 2019 Glen worked with the Illinois Housing Development Authority to create a Survey123 application that created a more efficient digital survey for their yearly assessment of housing stock. He's always willing to help and has become an exceedingly important part of city government.
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2020 Service Award Winner:
Tamara Freihat
Tamara worked with the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association for 2 years. She provided efficient, innovative, and quality GIS services to 45 municipalities in the south suburbs. She used her GIS experience to improve people’s lives in the south suburbs by providing the data analysis and maps needed.
Tamara volunteered with the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) for over 2 years. She assisted in data collection analysis and mapping for the “Healthy Access, Healthy Regions” project application to support public health planning and evaluation with tools to engage both the public and in-house analysts. As a result of her volunteer work, she gained experience and acquired new skills, but she also learned to work with others to make meaningful contributions to the lives of 2.7 million people.
While Tamara has 2 kids, she volunteered her whole summer in 2016 to join the Filed Museum research team to answer some key questions about how to best conserve monarch butterfly populations in urban areas. She volunteered because she knew that monarch populations are in trouble—they have decreased more than 80 percent over two decades, as their habitat of milkweed and nectar plants declines. She assisted in data collection, analysis, and mapping.
Tamara also did a lot of GIS volunteer work in Jordan, where she tried to improve people's lives through simple analysis; an example is her volunteer work at Kufranjah Municipality; which involved field data collection about streets and sidewalks conditions. Tamara’s volunteer work through the years has confirmed her interest in helping and contributing to society using her GIS experience. Currently, Tamara works for DuPage County Stormwater management, where she provides GIS services for the Stormwater Department, clients, and the community.
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Tamara Freihat
Tamara worked with the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association for 2 years. She provided efficient, innovative, and quality GIS services to 45 municipalities in the south suburbs. She used her GIS experience to improve people’s lives in the south suburbs by providing the data analysis and maps needed.
Tamara volunteered with the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) for over 2 years. She assisted in data collection analysis and mapping for the “Healthy Access, Healthy Regions” project application to support public health planning and evaluation with tools to engage both the public and in-house analysts. As a result of her volunteer work, she gained experience and acquired new skills, but she also learned to work with others to make meaningful contributions to the lives of 2.7 million people.
While Tamara has 2 kids, she volunteered her whole summer in 2016 to join the Filed Museum research team to answer some key questions about how to best conserve monarch butterfly populations in urban areas. She volunteered because she knew that monarch populations are in trouble—they have decreased more than 80 percent over two decades, as their habitat of milkweed and nectar plants declines. She assisted in data collection, analysis, and mapping.
Tamara also did a lot of GIS volunteer work in Jordan, where she tried to improve people's lives through simple analysis; an example is her volunteer work at Kufranjah Municipality; which involved field data collection about streets and sidewalks conditions. Tamara’s volunteer work through the years has confirmed her interest in helping and contributing to society using her GIS experience. Currently, Tamara works for DuPage County Stormwater management, where she provides GIS services for the Stormwater Department, clients, and the community.
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2020 Outstanding Student Award Winners:
Zach Healy, Western Illinois University
Clint Quigley, Western Illinois University
Kevin Stock, DePaul University
Jenna Gonzales, DePaul University
Logan Bundy, Northern Illinois University
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Zach Healy, Western Illinois University
Clint Quigley, Western Illinois University
Kevin Stock, DePaul University
Jenna Gonzales, DePaul University
Logan Bundy, Northern Illinois University
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