Panther Profiles
There is so much you can do with a degree in Geography, Geographic Information Sciences or Environmental Resource Management!
Geographers apply their unique knowledge, skills and perspectives in a diverse range of industries. They hold positions as urban planners who assess the costs and benefits of proposed transit systems, as state climatologists assessing the impacts of rising sea levels, as consultants advising firms about moving into new markets, and as human rights advocates working with refugees (to list just a handful of options).
There are hundreds of occupations that require knowledge of and skills in geography, and the diversity of career opportunities available to geography graduates continues to grow every year.
Check out what a few of our alumni have been up to by clicking on their profile below.
Karla Suckling
Karla Suckling (B.A. Anthropology and Geography, M.A. Geography) is Director of Strategic Operations for the North America Region at The Nature Conservancy. A University of Northern Iowa alumna, she has worked with the organization since 2006 in roles spanning conservation, operations, and organizational leadership.
David A. Turner
David A. Turner (M.A. Geography, 2026) is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa who returned to complete his master’s degree after a 30-year career in U.S. Army counterintelligence and service with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. His graduate research, Mapping the Geography of Economic Espionage in the United States (2000–2025), draws directly on his professional experience, and he continues his work in counterintelligence training and consulting through IXN Solutions.
Lee Larson
Lee is a founder, CEO and CIO (Chief Investment Officer) of Everstar Asset Management, an asset management company based just north of Charlotte, N.C. Everstar has two primary lines of business.
Tim Bass
A recent graduate (2022), Tim is currently the GIS and Right-of-way Specialist at Cedar Falls Utilities. In his job, Tim maps current and future assets for the city utilities, helps provide input in the planning process of utility placement, and helps acquire easements for the utilities to use.
Lindsey Hubbell
Another recent graduate (2023), Lindsey has been working with the Peace Corps, placed in the public health sector in Senegal. Though not directly related to my major, she has had the ability to travel and be submerged in new cultures while supporting a humanitarian cause. The Peace Corps will also grant Lindsey more access to a future government job and pay for a Master’s degree, both of which she plans to do upon her return.
Susan Meerdink
After finishing her Ph.D. at the University of California Santa Barbara in December 2018, Susan moved across the country to start a postdoctoral research position at the University of Florida in the College of Engineering. June 2020 saw another move, but this time to Iowa City and as a faculty member. Susan will be starting as an assistant professor at the University of Iowa in the Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences.
Jennifer Sink Trent
Jennifer is a waste reduction specialist at the Iowa Waste Reduction Center at the University of Northern Iowa. Jennifer serves the state of Iowa by working with craft breweries to help implement sustainable practices that address water quality and consumption, energy efficiency, solid waste management and environmental compliance. Additionally, Jennifer works with K-12 schools across Iowa to effectively reduce food waste headed to the landfill through prevention strategies, donation, composting and anaerobic digestion. She is serving her second term as an elected official for the Black Hawk Soil and Water Conservation District and is also on the Board of Directors for the United States Composting Council.
Jonathan Launspach
Jonathan has been a GIS contractor to the United States Environmental Protection Agency for the past seven years. He is currently a manager and GIS specialist focusing on aquatic work in the Midwest and Great Lakes. He recently moved from Duluth, Minnesota to West Des Moines, Iowa and works remotely out of his home office.
Katie Klus
Katie graduated in 2011 from UNI with a degree in Environmental Geography and Geographic Information Systems. Currently, she works as a naturalist III for Black Hawk County Conservation at Hartman Reserve Nature Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Her main focus is educating adults and kids about our natural world – everything from teaching how to make maple syrup to plant identification. She also does cartography, graphic design and exhibit design work for the Conservation department.
Joseph Capesius
Joseph graduated from the UNI geography department in May 1992 and took a summer job working for the USGS in Indiana prior to attending graduate school in geography at the University of Denver. He has continued working for the USGS all the way to the present, working in Arizona (1996-1999) and Colorado (1992-1996; 1999-2008). In 2008, a promotion took Joseph to Austin, TX to supervise the fine folks who operate the USGS gaging station program. He also has a healthy side-job of being a chief warrant officer 3 in the US Army Reserve. It was his ability to read a map during land navigation 33 years ago that made Joseph realize geography was his calling. He still gets excited to see data depicted in maps.