NOHFC - Success Stories
NOHFC internship helped map out her future
"NOHFC funding created the job I was able to get. It helped [the town of Fort Frances] create this position, and it gave me the chance to get some really good job experience..."
Just 30 years old, Trish Law is on the path to success. She has a thriving career as the Geographic Information System (GIS) expert for the Town of Fort Frances. She has a Bachelor’s degree, a Master’s degree and she gained her first hands-on experience through an internship position funded in part by the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation. Today, Trish is mapping out a future right here in Northern Ontario - and that future is bright.
Finding her Place
A few centuries ago, explorers venturing into the uncharted wilderness of Northern Ontario relied on crude maps to mark their progress and help them find their way back home. Over time, others elaborated on the crumpled-paper markings, continually re-drawing and re-calibrating them. Today, Geographic Information System (GIS) technology has revolutionized cartography and navigation. In fact, it has become a common field of study for university students majoring in Geography.
At a Glance:
WHERE
Fort Frances, Ontario
WHO
Trish Law, GIS Expert for the
Town of Fort Frances
HOW NOHFC HELPED
Funding provided to the Town
to create a year long GIS
internship position
REAL EXPERIENCE
- Developed a capital
rehabilitation program for the
town’s water & sewage
systems
- Co-authored GIS articles for
Fort Frances Times
With global communications the most efficient they have ever been, technology is allowing people from different continents to connect, correspond, and share information with each other in a matter of seconds. From the street-level detail of Google Earth to Global Positioning System (GPS) technology that has now become a standard feature for most new automobiles, cartography in the 21st century is as precise and as user-friendly as it has ever been. However, all the information and coordinates contained in these digital maps first need to be collected, analyzed, and then organized according to their location and status. This is where people like Trish Law come in.
The Internship
Back in 2005, Trish worked for the Town of Fort Frances in a year-long internship that was co-funded by the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), under its Youth Internship and Co-op Program. She was responsible for developing a capital rehabilitation program for the town’s water and sewage systems. She also prepared reports recommending how the municipality should proceed in developing its GIS computer software. As a student in the Masters of Geographic Information Systems program at the University of Calgary, she was the ideal candidate for this NOHFC internship. Initially lured to the “U of C” by another program, Trish realized that she had more of an interest in GIS, switched over to the Bachelors in Geography program and got her undergraduate degree.
“I like the applications; you can use them for anything,” says Law. “You can use it for health care, natural resource management…you can use it to create digital cities…you can do pretty much anything!”
She returned home to Fort Frances and landed the NOHFC internship. In addition to the invaluable practical experience she gained, Trish also co-authored GIS related articles for the Fort Frances Times newspaper. After her internship, she finished her Masters degree in GIS. From there, she was hired by the Town of Fort Frances to be their permanent GIS expert.
From Interest to Career
Reflecting on the whole experience, and the NOHFC’s role in it, she says:
“Talk to as many people in the industry as you can… Take as many different courses as you can… Then, see what interests you the most, and run with it.”
“NOHFC funding created the job I was able to get. It helped [the Town of Fort Frances] create this position, and it gave me the chance to get some really good job experience in an area that I was familiar with. It helped me gear my path a bit more, as I had been doing environmental applications, not city/municipal applications, and now that’s what I’m geared towards. It actually made the transition pretty simple.”
Trish has been largely responsible for creating a digital version of the entire Town of Fort Frances. Maintenance, planning, and management issues are solved in a fraction of the time that they would have been previously. Information is conveniently located in one computer, as opposed to being spread out over numerous plans and blueprints. It is easily accessible, and doesn’t require a time-and-space-consuming filing system. Currently, there is still more programming and updating to be done, but Trish hopes to have the town’s GIS information up on the Web in the very near future.
With a little help from the NOHFC, Trish Law parlayed an interest into a job, and then a job into a successful career.
To find out about how the NOHFC can help you do the same, please visit: NOHFC Youth Internship & Coop Program
