Work

Work-wise, my main interests are maps, data visualization, web development and programming.

Frontend

Frontend languages and tech I've worked with includes HTML/JavaScript/CSS/SASS, React, jQuery, Backbone, Svelte. I prefer the native over the monolithic - I'll hack away at React if I have to, but for most of my work, vanilla ES6 modules are more than enough.

This is one of my favorite frontend examples that I worked on recently. A challenging mix of Leaflet/D3 and dataviz using a rewritten spatial Sankey library developed elsewhere, for the to help understand how international finance flows shape climate impact.

Backend

Backend languages and frameworks I've worked with include Python/Django, PHP/WordPress, Ruby/Rails. Python and Django are by far my favorites, but I do love Ruby's syntax. For open source spatial data work, the Python ecosystem is hard to beat, and tools like pip and Conda are great for repeatability and working across platforms/teams.

This is one of my favorite backend examples that I've worked on. We use D3 to visualize evidence for the effectiveness of various popular conservation strategies. An authenticated backend allows the client to edit existing evidence and create new strategies on the fly, and serves as a basic CMS, without any support from me.

Mapping APIs and Map Servers

Web mapping tech skills include Leaflet/Mapbox/Maplibre, a bit of OpenLayers, GDAL/OGR and the Python geo-ecosystem GeoPandas et al. For backend WMS servers, we typically work with Mapserver/Apache. I also work with Desktop tools like QGIS, and ESRI if I have to.

Oh, and Geoserver has my attention again. We are likely recommending GeoServer to a client who wants "self service" updates. The GeoServer admin is just about perfect for that. Plus i18n support. Just today I noticed a Gist I wrote 10 years ago about how to install GeoServer on a Digital Ocean droplet (remember those?). What comes around, goes around.

Build

In terms of build and devops, I've worked with Docker, Webpack, Parcel, and Vite for local development of frontend and full stack Django applications. I have scratched the surface of all that AWS offers. A lot more to learn here.