About the DTA
The Richard “Dick” Thomas Award (DTA) was created to honor the life and work of Richard “Dick” Thomas, a pioneering figure and beloved mentor in Washington’s GIS community who passed away in 2006. This award celebrates his legacy by continuing to support and inspire students to be passionate in their studies and take confident steps toward careers in GIS. Held each year at the Washington GIS Conference, the competition invites students to share their original work in GIS or related fields, giving them the opportunity to present to and connect with a professional audience.
Note from the DTA Coordinators, Micah Gelber and Dan Miller:
What a great competition! This year’s projects exemplified quality, creativity, professionalism and expertise. It is impressive and inspiring to see the ways students are using GIS to solve unique problem sets. This year, projects topics included: modeling city noise, correlating organic carbon distribution and industrial activity in the Arctic, mapping Washington’s resale economy, and building a model to prioritize riparian habitat restoration in Whatcom County. The breadth of project scopes/ areas of focus, GIS applications, analysis techniques, and end products made for a very exciting and engaging competition. Thank you to this year’s competitors!
We would also like to give a special thanks to:
This year’s wonderful judges:
- Clint Lusk, City of Tacoma
- Josh Popelka, King County
- Michelle Totman, Tulalip Tribes
- Kevin Wyckoff, Lakewood Water District
- Our amazing timekeeper, Ken Charm, Aqualis!
And to Malia Houghton, City of Burien, for providing photography.
Thank you to all who made this event possible. It was a true pleasure to work with each and every one of you!
The 2026 DTA Results:
First Place: Maureen Montiel and Tahniat Naseem, The University of Washington, with a project titled, The Invisible Layer: Modeling Seattle City Noise to Map Neighborhood Soundscapes
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First place prizes include a check for $500, prize certificate, free one year WAGISA membership, free entry to the 2027 WAGISA GIS Conference, one year ArcGIS personal license, and Summit Scoop blog post.
Second Place: Madeleine Kopf-Patterson, University of Copenhagen, with a project titled, Disturbing the Deep: Mapping Arctic Sedimentary Blue Carbon at the Intersection of Climate and Industry.
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Second Place prizes include a check for $250, prize certificate, free one year WAGISA membership, one year ArcGIS personal license, and Summit Scoop blog post.
Third Place: Chelsea Ha, Niko Wood, and Seth Borne, University of Washington, with a project titled, Mapping Washington’s Secondary Resale Economy – Visualizing Opportunities for Circular Markets
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Third Place prizes include a check for $125, prize certificate, free one year WAGISA membership, one year ArcGIS personal license, and Summit Scoop blog post.
Honorable Mention: Jen Stolz, University of Washington, with a project titled, GIS-Based Prioritization of Salmon Habitat Riparian Restoration in WRIA 1
Keep reading to learn more about the competitors’ experiences with their projects and to view project abstracts and associated visuals!
First Place
Presenters: Maureen Montiel and Tahniat Naseem
Project Title: The Invisible Layer: Modeling Seattle City Noise to Map Neighborhood Soundscapes
Presentation Visuals
Project Abstract: You can tour a home, inspect its finishes, and evaluate its price— but you cannot see the noise that will shape your daily life. From late-night sirens to persistent traffic, neighborhood soundscapes influence health, comfort, and long-term satisfaction. However, these factors often remain largely overlooked in housing decisions. Addressing this gap requires tools that translate complex urban noise dynamics into clear, actionable insight.
We developed a Neighborhood Noise Score Map using a reproducible geospatial modeling framework. The model combines multiple geospatial datasets including railways, streets & roads, airports, and emergency services including hospitals, fire stations, and police stations. Land use establishes general ambient conditions, with industrial and commercial zones generating higher levels than residential areas. In contrast, vegetation and green spaces act as a natural buffer, absorbing and dampening sound.
Our datasets were analyzed using a combination of spatial modeling techniques, including Kernel Density to identify clusters and intensity patterns, and Euclidean Distance coupled with Raster Calculator operations to support mathematical modeling including exponential decay. Exponential distance decay functions were applied to represent how noise influence attenuates as it propagates outward from source locations. Resulting surfaces were normalized and reclassified to a standardized suitability scale, then integrated using a weighted overlay to generate a composite noise index. To improve data completeness and spatial accuracy, missing or inconsistent features were supplemented through manual digitization using georeferencing techniques, satellite imagery, and street-level observations.
A key contribution to this work is its transferability. Unlike approaches reliant on highly curated municipal geodatabases, this methodology leverages widely accessible data sources — such as georeferencing and street view platforms — making it adaptable to data-scarce environments. The result is a scalable framework that can be replicated across cities to support housing decisions, urban planning, and environmental equity analysis by revealing otherwise hidden patterns of urban noise.
Project Reflection/Experience: Abstract Only
Second Place
Presenter: Madeleine Kopf-Patterson
Project Title: Disturbing the Deep: Mapping Arctic Sedimentary Blue Carbon at the Intersection of Climate and Industry.
Presentation Visuals
Project Abstract: Understanding the current distribution of sedimentary organic carbon stocks in the Arctic Ocean is critical to properly assessing the potential climate impacts of Arctic industrial activity. With increasing interest in the Arctic, especially for activities such as bottom trawling and drilling, understanding the current state of Arctic Ocean carbon stocks should be a stronger focus. Ocean sediments are one of the few stable long-term carbon sinks, making their preservation a conservation priority, necessitating a better understanding of the quantity and distribution. Mapping aims to visualise Total Organic Carbon distribution and quantify potential areas of conflict between high organic carbon storage areas and identified areas of current and future industrial activity. This study found that multiple Arctic Nations store 34 – 46% of their TOC within less than 30% of the region’s area. Understanding the potential climate impacts of industrial activity, particularly in the Arctic that is warming at quadruple the speed of other regions, is critical yet currently infeasible given the limited data.
Project Reflection/ Experience: I initially designed this project to bring together disciplines that are not often considered in the same conversation. From the beginning, I wanted to use GIS not only to map carbon distributions, but also to explore how those findings fit into the broader context of Arctic management, policy, and industrial activity. Rather than treating the science and decision-making sides as separate topics, the goal was to understand how geospatial analysis can help connect them. Focusing on climate change, I believe it is critical to take an interdisciplinary approach, highlighting the interconnected nature of the issue and impacts. Though, I will admit, at times this was easier said than done.
Working in an emerging field meant there was rarely an established workflow to follow, requiring me to think outside the box and draw from not typically associated fields. At one point, this meant incorporating earthquake data to investigate how carbon might move following seabed disturbances. I think it is a valuable lesson to keep in mind, and I hope Arctic Ocean data coverage continues to expand.
Competing in the 2026 DTA, it was interesting seeing the range of topics represented by the other students. Although we were all working with GIS and geospatial technologies, everyone was applying those tools in different ways and to completely different problems. It was a great reminder of how flexible these technologies are and how many opportunities there are to use them to answer meaningful questions. Opportunities like WAGISA play an important role in helping students and early-career professionals build connections, share ideas, and gain confidence in our work. I am grateful to WAGISA for creating these opportunities and I look forward to staying involved with the community in the future.
I am excited to share that my paper has since been published in the Cambridge Journal of Climate Research. If you are interested in reading more or seeing the maps produced, it is available at https://doi.org/10.60866/CAM.309.
Third Place
Presenter: Chelsea Ha, Niko Wood, and Seth Borne
Project Title: Disturbing the Deep: Mapping Arctic Sedimentary Blue Carbon at the Intersection of Climate and Industry.
Presentation Visuals
Project Abstract: Washington's secondary circular textile economy cannot be strengthened without first being seen. Until now, no inventory of Washington's textile reuse infrastructure exists. Retail resale, repair, maintenance, and donation locations have never been mapped together. This void leaves state agencies and researchers without the geographic foundation needed to evaluate access, identify gaps, or direct resources effectively.
This project uses GIS to build that foundation. Commissioned by the Washington State Department of Ecology's Recycling Market Development Center, our team developed a reproducible open-source data pipeline using Overture Maps and supplemental web-sourced data to locate and categorize Washington's textile reuse infrastructure. This pipeline adapts to other categories, offering agencies a replicable framework for mapping additional segments of Washington's secondary circular economy.
To assess equitable access across Washington, the team applies a targeted set of spatial analyses. Network accessibility analysis measures the percentage of the population within a defined distance of resale establishments. The team aggregates block group population data into multi-level spatial unit accessibility metrics, feeding a composite Circular Infrastructure Accessibility Index that scores each spatial unit by its range of textile reuse infrastructure. Getis-Ord Gi* hot spot analysis identifies statistically significant clusters of high and low access, and Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) explores how demographic characteristics and vehicle access relate to resale infrastructure presence. Together these analyses reveal where textile reuse infrastructure concentrates or disappears, and whether access distributes equitably across income, vehicle ownership, and other demographics.
These analyses produce a series of maps and indicators showing which communities are well-served by textile reuse infrastructure and which face meaningful gaps, highlighting where investment would be most effective. The team delivers findings through a public-facing ArcGIS Experience Builder web application hosted within the Department of Ecology's GIS portal, providing an accessible tool for agency staff, the general public, business leaders, and legislators.
Project Reflection/ Experience: Some of us are thrifters who already knew half the stores that ended up on the map. Others came from right-to-repair: does a shop replacing a laptop battery do anything different than a cobbler replacing a boot heel? No. Someone values an item and chooses what comes after make and use: recycle, return, reuse, repair. For textiles in Washington, that is the economy we set out to map.
The project arrived as an open question. No authoritative dataset existed, and our client was open about what to look for, which is a gift and a hazard in equal measure. Ingesting five sources, geocoding them, and reconciling duplicates took a series of custom solutions, each developed because the last met entries it couldn't handle, and a person reviewed every entry before it was allowed in. Slow, and we would do it again, because a dataset the RMDC cannot trust is not worth handing over. From ArcGIS Pro we published two feature layers off that curated dataset, a lean one for the analysis and a fuller one for the web app. One source of truth, two shapes, which is how three people working in three different silos stayed pointed at the same data.
With no prescribed questions, we picked the four analyses that best fit our data: network accessibility, a composite Circular Infrastructure Accessibility Index, Getis-Ord Gi* hot spots, and resale deserts examined against demographic variables. Together they answer who can reach this infrastructure, how much range a community has, where access clusters or vanishes, and where the gaps track with income and vehicle access. They are a baseline the next team can extend.
We prototyped the app in UW's portal and delivered it into the Department of Ecology's, which hasn't been updated since mid-2024, so we reworked more than once to suit the destination. The small quirks stick too. Customize columns in an Experience Builder table widget with a ZIP code stored as a number? It renders 98848 as 98,848. Type cast it as a string. Nobody tells you this.
In mid-May we brought the draft app to a textile circularity symposium and walked our sponsor through it. Attendees searched it for their own businesses and our hit rate was 100%. She then asked whether we could digitize the analog map the event used for check-in, foam board and colored pushpins. So we did: a Survey123 form feeding a second app that plots textile contacts across the Pacific Northwest. Both are live. The best scope creep is the kind where the client sees what you built and wants more.
And the rest will outlive our cohort too: no paid APIs, and a pipeline Ecology can rerun as Overture publishes monthly. Our sponsor mentioned that she would like to use the project as the basis for an RFP for next year's program. Building something meant to be inherited rather than submitted changes how one makes decisions.
Thanks to Tyson Kemper, who stepped back so three of us could present within DTA's submission limits; to the Department of Ecology; to our project sponsors at the RMDC; and to the WAGISA and DTA organizers and judges.
Washington Textile System Mapping Survey - [LINK]
Washington Textile System Map - [LINK]
Honorable Mention
Presenter: Jen Stolz
Project Title: GIS-Based Prioritization of Salmon Habitat Riparian Restoration in WRIA 1
Presentation Visuals
Project Abstract: This project develops an interactive ArcGIS Online web map to support the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA) in identifying high‑priority riparian restoration areas within Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 1. WRIA 1 includes more than 650 streams and 1,300 miles of waterways across the Nooksack Basin, where project managers require a defensible, spatially consistent method to evaluate restoration potential and guide early landowner outreach. Currently, project managers rely on manually reviewing aerial imagery to identify potential restoration sites, a process that is time‑consuming and not easily defensible. This tool streamlines decision‑making by narrowing the search to the highest‑priority areas based on consistent, data‑driven criteria.
The analysis integrates biological, ecological, and land‑use datasets to evaluate riparian conditions adjacent to salmon‑bearing streams. Core inputs include hydrology from the USGS 3D Hydrography Program (3DHP), salmon species presence, solar aspect, conifer presence, and vegetation height derived from LANDFIRE. Additional stand‑alone layers—such as parcels and 303(d) impaired waters—provide contextual information to help assess feasibility and restoration constraints. Riparian conditions are evaluated using 50‑ft and 100‑ft buffers to capture both immediate and broader vegetation structure along stream corridors.
Each dataset is cleaned, standardized, clipped to WRIA 1, and organized into a geodatabase for use in both individual map layers and a composite prioritization model. Sponsor‑provided ranking criteria are applied to the core datasets, and spatial overlay tools are used to generate a prioritization layer that highlights stream segments where multiple high‑value factors overlap. Symbology and web map configuration are designed to support intuitive interpretation by NSEA project managers.
The final deliverables include a user‑friendly ArcGIS Online web map, a complete set of standardized hosted feature layers, a published prioritization layer, and a maintenance guide enabling NSEA to update datasets, scoring criteria, and symbology for future analysis. This project provides a transparent, repeatable GIS workflow that supports informed decision‑making and advances salmon habitat restoration efforts across WRIA 1.
Project Reflection/ Experience: As a student in the University of Washington’s online GIS Certificate Program, this student project was my first opportunity to apply spatial analysis to a real restoration challenge. Our team set out to build a riparian restoration prioritization model for the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA). The goal sounded straightforward: identify the most ecologically valuable streamside areas in WRIA 1. In reality, the project quickly became an exercise in navigating messy hydrology, imperfect datasets, and the complexities of collaborative decision‑making.
One of the biggest challenges was the hydrology. Without a complete or consistent naming system, we spent a significant amount of time exploring different ArcGIS Pro hydrology tools and ranking methods. Many of them weren’t suited to the data we had, and we eventually had to accept that we would do the best we could with incomplete information — a very real part of environmental GIS work.
Teamwork also shaped the final product. I initially wanted to segment the stream network and rank each section individually, but the group preferred using interior polygons. We went with the polygon approach, which introduced its own complications: the polygons varied dramatically in size and shape, from tiny slivers to multi‑mile stretches. After several iterations, we dissolved the interior lines and used a weighted overlay to create a heat‑map‑style prioritization surface.
Publishing the results brought its own surprises. Our raster could only be shared as a tile layer, which meant no pop‑ups and limited zoom due to credit costs. To give NSEA flexibility, we duplicated the output as a vector layer that could be viewed at any scale. The raster was clearer; the vector was more functional.
In the end, the project taught me that GIS is rarely clean or linear — but with persistence and creativity, it can still produce something genuinely useful.
Stay Connected/ Learn More/ Get Involved:
The Dick Thomas Award is brought to you by the WAGISA Community Engagement Committee (CEC). Check out some other CEC offerings below:
WAGISA Young Professionals Special Interest Group (YPI): https://wagisa.org/Young-Professionals
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Join a network of young GIS professionals (< 5 years exp.) in Washington
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Get access to mailing lists, social/ learning events, and a job bulletin
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Fill out the YPI Interest Sign-Up Form to get in the loop!
DTA web page: https://wagisa.org/DTA
Final Thoughts - Thank you to Dan Miller!
Hosting the DTA continues to be the highlight of my year. Thanks again to everyone who made this event possible!
I want to take a moment to recognize and thank my colleague, mentor and friend, Dan Miller. It is likely that this will be Dan’s last year as a DTA coordinator. Over the past 6 years, Dan has been an integral part of DTA, serving as event coordinator alongside our current president, Taylor Dixon, from 2020-2021, and then with me (Micah Gelber) from 2022-2026. I will miss the hours of planning meetings, checking off to-do items, and sharing the stage with Dan. It has been an absolute pleasure to build this event together. From myself and on behalf of the DTA community, thank you for all you have done to make this event what it is today!
I look forward to seeing what next year brings - Cheers!
Micah Gelber, WAGISA Young Professional Special Interest Group (YP-SIG) Lead and DTA Coordinator
