In January of 2019, I left work to travel. I ended up with many questions.
In Madagascar I wondered about population and poverty. On Easter Island, it was migration and navigation. In Finland, there are as many saunas as people. Out west, in a more solitary time, the landscape that stirred up ideas: how does the terrain dictate roads, where does rain fall, where do fires burn.
Geospatial technology and mapping has been a satisfying way to explore these questions. These maps are some of the homework from UCLA Extensions certificate program in Geospatial Technologies. Terrific set of classes, well taught, highly applied, that explore a wide range of geospatial techniques.
ESRI’s ArcGIS Pro remains the main tool of choice. Becoming proficient in it was at the core of the curriculum. (It's a vast beast so that may be an overreaching claim. ) Another worthy skillset from the program is learning how to source and use publicly available geospatial data. Truly there's a wealth of information.