Professional involvement
Service, speaking, and standards work
GIS work in Utah local government, focused on public web GIS, emergency management geospatial infrastructure, and statewide data standards.
Senior GIS Analyst at the City of Millcreek, Utah, since 2019. GISP and FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot.
Certifications
| Credential | Issuer | Since |
|---|---|---|
| GISP, GIS Certified Professional | GIS Certification Institute | January 2025 |
| FAA Part 107, Remote Pilot | Federal Aviation Administration | October 2022 |
| B.A. Geography | Northeastern State University | 2019 |
The GISP is a portfolio and exam certification. The institute scores education, professional experience, and contributions to the profession together with the exam. I passed the exam on the first attempt in December 2024.
Service and leadership
Utah Geospatial Emergency Management, Technology Coordinator
UGEM advances and standardizes GIS practice in emergency management across Utah. As Technology Coordinator I manage the UGEM Hub, the ArcGIS Hub site hosted under Utah DPS that serves as the group’s system of record. I also help maintain the member database and the digital channels the group uses.
The Hub centralizes authoritative Utah emergency geospatial layers, standard toolkits for incident maps, damage assessment forms, and public information dashboards, and a resource library. It also holds training tracks that use NIMS and ICS terminology.
Utah GIS Advisory Council, Subcommittee Member
- City and County Data Standards. Statewide GIS interoperability. I contribute the municipal view, based on Millcreek’s county-to-city data transitions in addressing, parcels, and stormwater. The group works on assessor property-type code standards, the Publicly Owned Land Inventory, a generalized statewide zoning layer, and addressing standards.
- Innovation. Policy for new technology: AI-assisted GIS workflows, cloud-native data formats, indoor mapping and BIM, and LiDAR and UAS data sharing.
Utah Geographic Information Council, Member
UGIC is Utah’s statewide GIS council. Its members come from government, industry, education, and nonprofits. The council has run GIS conferences since 1997.
Salt Lake Area GIS Users Group, Active Member
Regional users group. I helped host the SLUG quarterly meeting at Millcreek City Hall in 2024.
Salt Lake UAV Users Group, Member
A working group of about ten FAA Part 107 remote pilots from the GIS and law enforcement communities. The group shares practice on public-sector UAV operations.
URISA, Member
Urban and Regional Information Systems Association.
Esri Early Adopter Program, Participant
I help test alpha and beta builds across ArcGIS Pro, Survey123, AI assistants, and deep learning packages, and file feedback on them.
Education and mentorship
University of Utah, GIS Capstone Sponsor
I sponsor student capstone projects. I help define a real operational problem, supply the data and the context, and advise the team through delivery. Both projects came from genuine municipal needs.
| Term | Project |
|---|---|
| Spring 2025 | Deriving structure and tower heights from lidar |
| Spring 2026 | Experience Builder application for the sidewalk and trail network |
Speaking
| Year | Talk | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | WUI Boundary Workflows for Local Governments | UGIC, Kanab, Utah |
| 2025 | Drone Use in Emergency Management | UGIC |
WUI is the Wildland-Urban Interface, the zone where houses meet undeveloped wildland fuel.
Recognition
- Esri User Conference Map Gallery Finalist, 2026. Millcreek Sidewalk & Trails Master Plan, a finalist for the Envisioning the Future Award. The map shows sidewalk gaps, trail priorities, and future connections across the city. View the submission
- Esri User Conference Map Gallery Finalist, 2025. Millcreek Future Land Use Map, which replaced a static planning appendix with one cartographic experience for planners, staff, and the public. View the submission
- Gamma Theta Upsilon. International Geography Honor Society.
Continuing education
41 completed courses: 35 from Esri and 6 from the FEMA Emergency Management Institute.
| Provider | Total |
|---|---|
| Esri instructor-led and web courses | 28 courses, 69 contact hours |
| Esri MOOCs | 7 courses, six of 6 weeks and one of 4 weeks |
| FEMA EMI Independent Study | 6 courses, 1.80 IACET CEU |
Esri web courses report contact hours, not CEUs. At the standard conversion of 10 contact hours to 1 CEU, 69 hours is about 6.9 CEU equivalent. This is an equivalence, not an awarded credential.
All 41 courses by subject
Python and automation
- Python for Everyone, 4:15
- Python Scripting for Map Automation, 4:00
- Automating Workflows Using ArcGIS Pro Tasks, 4:00
- Python Scripting for Geoprocessing Workflows, 3:30
- Building Geoprocessing Models Using ArcGIS Pro, 2:30
- Python Scripting: Modifying Page Layouts, 2:20
- Python Scripting: Modifying Layer Properties, 1:50
ArcGIS Pro foundations
- Getting Started with ArcGIS Pro, 5:15
- GIS Basics, 2:35
- Editing Basics in ArcGIS Pro, 2:00
Cartography and visualization
- Introduction to 3D Visualization, 3:00
- Creating Map Products, 2:45
- Symbolizing Map Layers, 1:45
- Getting Started with Mapping and Visualization, 1:15
- Cartography. MOOC, 6 weeks
Coordinate systems and data management
- Getting Started with the Geodatabase, 3:30
- Introduction to Coordinate Systems, 2:25
- Getting Started with Data Management, 1:25
- Basics of Geographic Coordinate Systems, 1:15
Web GIS and app development
- Creating a Web Map in ArcGIS Pro, 3:05
- Creating and Sharing GIS Content Using ArcGIS Online, 2:30
- Introduction to ArcGIS Arcade, 2:30
Spatial analysis and data science
- Data Science Workflows Using ArcGIS Notebooks, 2:00
- Introduction to Distance Analysis, 1:30
- Getting Started with Spatial Analysis, 1:10
- ArcGIS Notebooks Basics, 1:00
- Spatial Data Science: The New Frontier in Analytics. MOOC, 6 weeks
- Going Places with Spatial Analysis. MOOC, 6 weeks
Imagery and remote sensing
- Performing Supervised Pixel-Based Image Classification, 1:10
- Performing Unsupervised Pixel-Based Image Classification, 0:55
- Earth Imagery at Work. MOOC, 6 weeks
- Imagery in Action. MOOC, 6 weeks
Applied GIS and industry
- Applying the Racial Equity Workflow Using ArcGIS, 3:45
- The Location Advantage. MOOC, 6 weeks
- Transform AEC Projects with GIS and BIM. MOOC, 4 weeks
Emergency management
| Course | Title | CEU |
|---|---|---|
| IS-103 | Geospatial Information Systems Specialist | 0.20 |
| IS-922 | Applications of GIS for Emergency Management | 0.30 |
| IS-100.C | Introduction to Incident Command System | 0.20 |
| IS-200.C | Basic Incident Command System for Initial Response | 0.40 |
| IS-700.B | An Introduction to the National Incident Management System | 0.40 |
| IS-800.C | National Response Framework, An Introduction | 0.30 |
IS-103 and IS-922 are the geospatial specializations. The other four are the standard NIMS and ICS baseline.
Public work
For consulting work or a project question, email brian.busch@me.com.