About Kessler GIS

BRUCE L. KESSLER, GISP

20414 W. Baker Rd.

Cheney, WA 99004

509-235-5500 (phone and fax)

509-675-0493 (cell and voice mail)

D-U-N-S Number: 048026244

TAX ID: 91-1688219

Bruce Kessler founded Kessler GIS in the spring of 2001. He emphasizes education, consulting and map production in ArcGIS, Workstation ArcInfo, and ArcView 3.x and uses his broad-based GIS experience starting in 1985 to help clients understand the basics and work through complex GIS procedures. His business goals are:

	Focus on client educational and consulting needs and build client self-sufficiency for long-term solutions
	Keep clients fully informed
	Finish projects in a timely and cost-effective manner
	Develop GIS curricula for innovative educational solutions
	Teach ESRI Authorized Training Program (ATP) classes

Mr. Kessler’s consulting projects concentrate on simple, easily implemented solutions for his clients. He can help with system and database upgrades, needs assessments, database design, data conversion and maintenance, application design, contract monitoring, and programming. Additionally, he enjoys creating and teaching how to create nice looking and efficient maps, repeatable GeoProcessing analyses, and well organized data management procedures. He has worked within all supported data models: coverage, shapefile, and geodatabases including SDE, file and personal.

Mr. Kessler teaches a variety of classes using materials he developed either meeting client’s specialized needs or meeting his own more generic education program curricula needs. Some of the clients requesting specialized classes include the USDA Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Idaho Department of Water Resources, Idaho Department of Lands, Weyerhaeuser Corporation, HDR Inc., and Washington Closure Hanford. Mr. Kessler teaches his classes at colleges, universities, regional/national/international conferences, at client sites or by using his own mobile training lab. Through the ESRI Authorized Training Program (ATP), he teaches ArcGIS Desktop II & III (9.x).

Mr. Kessler also presents special seminars to diverse groups on GIS-related topics such as Managing a GIS, What is GIS?, Communicating What You Want in the GIS Techno World, etc. Many of the special topics are geared towards organized growth. He can adapt and present a variety of topics fitting client specific needs. These seminars have been presented to clients at their facilities or at conferences attended by thousands.

Sample Clients

	Washington Closure Hanford, WA
	USDA Forest Service Enterprise Group
	HDR, Alaska
	Forest Capital, WA
	Stevens County Rural Resources Ride Share Program, Colville, WA
	City of Kent, WA
	USDA Forest Service
	U.S. Timber Co., OR
	Rural Information Technology Center, Colville, WA
	Seneca Jones Timber Co., Oregon
	City of Walla Walla, WA
	National Park Service, Alaska
	King County, WA
	Bureau of Land Management, Montana
	Cominco American, WA
	Kittitas County, WA
	Maurice Williamson Consulting Foresters, Inc., WA
	Fluor Hanford, WA
	Pierce County, WA

Professional Experience Highlights

	Obtained his GISP certification in 2005.
	Advised and educated over 25 GIS professionals working with HDR Inc. Alaska
	Developed and wrote the following courses: * A 1-day GeoDatabase Course, emphasizing topology and editing * A 1-day ModelBuilder Course * A 2-day ArcView GIS Course for Idaho Department of Lands * A 3-day Beginning ArcGIS Course for Natural Resource Users * A 3-day Beginning ArcGIS Courses for USFS users (and has maintained it through numerous versions) * A 3-day Introduction to ArcGIS course (emphasizing SDE) for the BLM.
	Assessed and debugged ArcGIS Spatial Analyst during its initial development (2000-2001) – a challenging and enjoyable project in light of his special interest in digital terrain modeling.
	Developed an ArcView 3.x / Access application and user interface (using ODBC) for managing resource data for the National Park Service.
	Developed and helped implement a full database design for Seneca Jones Timber Co.
	Supported numerous ESRI clients by providing specialized consulting services such as project management, database design, application programming, data conversion, and development of comprehensive training classes.
	Has experience in a number of programming languages, operating systems, and software packages since his introduction to computers in 1978.
	Taught most of the courses offered by ESRI in ArcGIS, ArcInfo and ArcView until 2001 and specialized in the advanced topics for 12 years. He developed and presented special workshops on topics including ArcGIS, ArcView, Spatial Analyst, ARC/INFO, AML, GRID, Regions, and Dynamic Segmentation.
	He has contributed to a number of rewrites on various ESRI training materials.
	In 1995, he was ESRI’s manager and major author of two one-week courses for the U.S. Forest Service, which included design, writing, production, prototyping, and teaching.

Background

Mr. Kessler earned his GISP license in 2005 after completing all the requirements. He began working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing at the University in 1980, and has been working professionally with GIS since 1985. In 1989, he joined Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) in sales. Later, he migrated to application project manager, application programming specialist, and GIS teacher. After twelve years with ESRI, early in 2001, Mr. Kessler resigned his position and started his own GIS consulting business based on his skills using ESRI products. He earned his M.S. and B.S. degrees in forest resource management from the University of Idaho in 1985 and 1980, respectively.

Other Professional Experience

In 2009, Mr. Kessler joined Teachers Without Borders to teach and help lesser developed countries with GIS and Geography curricula.

In 1998, Mr. Kessler joined the Rural Information Technology Center (RITC) in Colville, WA as a founding board member. This non-profit organization emphasized technology transfer, technology education, and job creation. RITC was instrumental in developing a cooperative effort between government and private corporations to provide fiber optic phone lines to this rural community. RITC was involved in the development of a call center and planned for a high-tech research park. Additionally, one major application area was GIS. RITC sponsored GIS training, on-the-job experience, and provided jobs for local people. RITC provided the core labor component and computers for a county wide digital parcel development effort. Mr. Kessler was most closely involved in the GIS component and volunteered many hours of his time. He left the board in 2004 to manage a RITC contract.

In 1997 Mr. Kessler became adjunct faculty at the Stevens County Learning Center for Washington State University. He taught two three-credit courses: Intro to GIS and Advanced GIS. He maintains an interest in teaching at the University and plans to do more in the future.

In 1992, while located with ESRI in Boulder, Colorado, he was adjunct faculty at the University of Denver and advised graduate students planning to enter the GIS profession.

From 1984 to 1989, Mr. Kessler was a senior remote sensing and GIS analyst for the Idaho Department of Water Resources working on:

	Managing the early design for a water management GIS database for the State of Idaho
	Writing and securing contracts with state and federal agencies and private businesses
	Analyzing Landsat MSS data using various software and performing statistical analysis on the results
	Digitizing and mapping land cover, land use, transportation, hydrography, PLS lines, and political boundaries
	Maintaining and supporting ARC/INFO software on PCs and VAXstations
	Training and advising co-workers in ARC/INFO

He was a research associate for the College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Range Sciences at the University of Idaho and managed the University's Remote Sensing Lab from 1981 to 1984. He also flew, processed, printed, and analyzed aerial photographs in various formats and film types for a number of different forestry, agricultural, fisheries, and soil studies. As a teaching assistant, Mr. Kessler taught laboratory sessions for aerial photo interpretation and photo processing techniques.

During 1981-82, Mr. Kessler worked for the Idaho Lands Department as a resource management lead worker. He was a forest technician for the U.S. Forest Service–Region 1, from 1979 to 1980 and a forester's aide for Stadt Boeblingen, West Germany, in 1973.

Formal Education

	Master of Science (Forest Resource Management) University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, 1985
	Bachelor of Science (Forest Resource Management) University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, 1980

Professional Boards, Committees, Volunteer Organizations and Achievements

	Advisor to Lisa Holmes, Area Health Education Center of Eastern Washington for Washington State University, on GIS technologies, education and curriculum design for global use in schools 2008-present.
	GIS Certification Institute, 2005 #00048531
	URISA Intermountain GIS Conference Workshop Coordinator: Coeur d'Alene, ID 2009
	Northwest ESRI Users Group Annual Conference Workshop Coordinator: Sun Valley, ID 2008; Tacoma, WA 2007; Spokane, WA 2006
	Founding board member: Rural Information Technology Center, !998-2004, Colville, WA
	Chair for the Society of American Forester's GIS Working Group, 1995–96
	Chair-elect for the Society of American Forester's GIS Working Group, 1993–94
	Xi Sigma Pi, National Forestry Honor Society

ESRI trademarks used herein by license from ESRI

	100% focused on helping clients become self-sufficient and energized Kessler GIS makes Geographic Information Systems happen