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Associate Member Spotlight

Ryan Waters
Ryan is a project manager with manager, and into a full time project manager. He currently
GdB Geospatial on Long Island. manages GdB’s GIS team which is responsible for not only
He grew up in Coram and currently the management of our own data and records, but for the
lives in Port Jefferson with his wife work GdB is hired to do for various clients.
Shannah. Ryan is a graduate of
Manhattan College in the Riverdale In college Ryan picked up running as a hobby and has been
section of the Bronx where he doing that ever since. He prefers to run the longer style of
majored in both Sociology and Urban Studies. While in ultramarathons, with his longest competition being a 24
college, Ryan had been introduced to the engineering field hour run through some extremely hilly and mountainous
through friends and roommates. However, he was not sure terrain. This style of running is more about mental toughness
engineering was the field he wanted to go into. He had rather than physically being the fastest or most athletic. This
taken some GIS courses at Manhattan College and had his lifestyle has offered Ryan the opportunity to travel to parts
sights set on going to graduate school for Urban Planning. of the country he might not have otherwise. Anywhere from
During his senior year, as he contemplated which graduate the NY Finger Lakes area to the Arizona deserts. There is a
program he wanted to get into, a friend of his who works correlation to be seen here as well. The kind of work ethic
for GdB encouraged him to seek out an internship with the needed to perform at a level such as running a 24 hour long
company. It turns out GdB was hiring at the time. Rather ultramarathon, is the same kind Ryan applied to his work at
than become an intern, Ryan sent GdB his resume and a GdB. How else does someone go from entry level surveyor
week after graduation, he was hired as an entry level field to project manager in just under six years?
surveyor. Ryan spent his first three months working on a Ryan desires to become a licensed surveyor when he accrues
project that involved surveying existing handicap ramps to enough time and experience. He enjoys learning about why
see if they complied with ADA standards. He spent another we do the things we do when conducting a survey. Not just
three months performing research for boundary records in the physical tasks of taking measurements, setting control,
connection with a County sewering project. This work was recovering marks, etc. Ryan enjoys learning about the
performed under the guidance of one of GdB’s licensed mathematical part of what we do as well as the analytical. He
land surveyors. That was a little more than five years ago. also likes the historical aspects of surveying, especially here
Since then, Ryan has worked on various survey projects for on Long Island where you occasionally deal with colonial
NYSDOT, USACE, NYC DDC as well as the numerous patents or other historic aspects of land conveyance. As he
county and local agency projects GdB works on. In a short puts it, “It is fun to play detective and do the digging needed
amount of time, Ryan has elevated himself through the to find answers. You have to wear many hats to figure out
ranks of field surveyor, office data processor, assistant project the most correct answer, not just the right answer”.

EMPIRE STATE SURVEYOR / VOL. 58• NO 1/ 2022 • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 21