To kick off the semester, the Department of Geography and the Environment launched an interactive map on its website showcasing where alumni have established careers.

Created by alum Tanner Lindberg ('20) -- the department's administrative coordinator -- the project has been months in the making and continues growing. The map currently highlights 300 working professionals from various fields in geography and the environment.

The thought of creating this map sparked while Lindberg was completing the AccoUNTable Supervisor Program, a training opportunity designed to strengthen leadership skills among UNT staff.

On his last day, Lindberg sat with Jasmine Carter ('09 M.B.A.) -- university alum and director of alumni engagement -- seeking assistance in bringing his new idea into fruition.

"Can I pick your brain?" Lindberg recalls asking Carter. "How do I go about this?"

With help from her and his tight-knit team, Lindberg was able to compile a collection of alumni all over the world following months of endless research and outreach.

Lindberg began putting together the project at the beginning of the summer , and his quick, hard work was celebrated with the launch of the map on Aug. 31.

As the map continues to grow, Lindberg hopes to put at least one pin in each U.S state and further expand the department's international network.

"We have to treat this as its own living thing," Lindberg says. "When new cohorts of students come in and new ones graduate, I'd like to see the map continue building on itself."

Read about a couple of alumni who are featured on the map:

Amanda McDaniel ('15), Los Angeles, California

Career Highlights: Amanda McDaniel is an associate regional planner at the Southern California Association of Governments, the country's largest metropolitan planning organization. The organization prepares regional transportation plans and sustainable communities strategies to help meet various federal requirements, state-mandated greenhouse gases reduction goals and state housing targets.

"The most rewarding part of my current role is definitely getting to work in my own community. Being able to create a more sustainable, resilient and equitable Southern California for current and future generations is very rewarding to me."

Lessons Learned: "The geography faculty at UNT taught me about urban planning, which is identifying community needs, then partnering with public officials, engineers, architects, artists, developers and others to provide short- and long-term solutions through innovation and design. After taking my first urban geography class, I wanted to see what career options were out there related to urban issues and sustainability, and the faculty led me to urban planning."

"After graduating with my bachelor's degree in geography from UNT in 2015, I began graduate school at the University of Southern California and obtained my master's degree in urban planning in 2019, with a focus on sustainable land use planning. In 2023, I obtained professional planning certification from the American Institute of Certified Planners. UNT started my journey to where I am today, and I could not be more grateful."

Making an Impact: "I love geography so much because there's so much you can do with it. Regardless of what you want to do, I highly recommend taking at least a few geographic information system (GIS) classes. You don't have to become an expert, but at least being proficient in GIS will make you much more competitive professionally no matter what field you go into."

"While you're in school, take the time to expose yourself to different areas of geography because you never know what you will fall in love with and what you can make a career out of."

Nicholas Enwright ('07, '10 M.S.), Lafayette, Louisiana

Career Highlights: As research geographer at the U.S. Geological Survey's Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, Nicholas Enwright builds and leads a coastal geography research program that utilizes remote sensing and geographic information science to advance the understanding of how coastal environments, like barrier islands and coastal wetlands, are changing over time and predict how these systems may change in the future.

"The most rewarding aspect of my position is the ability to apply coastal geographic science to advance our understanding of coastal ecosystems and provide actionable science to land managers for conserving, preserving and restoring these valuable ecosystems."

Lessons Learned: "I obtained my bachelor's degree in geography and master's degree in applied geography from UNT in 2007 and 2010. The diverse and world-class faculty at UNT's Department of Geography and Environment helped me form a strong foundation as a geographer."

"I learned how to think spatially and answer questions by using existing geospatial products or creating custom products like land cover maps and watershed delineations. In particular, the relationships professors had with local and regional collaborators helped me to be involved in several real-world research projects that led to actionable science."

"I was able to learn GIS from a legend -- Bruce Hunter ('90 M.S., '05 Ph.D.) -- who taught me to learn a system (e.g., wetland science) and then apply GIS to better understand the system. This advice about system knowledge is more important now than ever as machine learning and artificial intelligence becomes increasingly prevalent."

Making an Impact: "Geography is a very broad field with subfields, including human geography, historical geography, medical geography and physical geography. Take time to find the geography subfield that you are most interested in and passionate about learning."