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Edie Punt
Cartographic Product Engineer
My career has exceeded what I expected. Everything I do is related to either making maps or helping other people make maps.
Edie Punt
As she contemplated starting a masters degree researching and studying different types of maps, Edith (Edie) Punt had an epiphany. "I had this moment where I realized that it seemed false for me to be writing about the topic of mapping, when I had never made a map myself." She spoke with her professor at McGill University who encouraged her to check out the two schools in Canada which taught cartography. After tours of both, Edie chose NSCC's Centre of Geographic Sciences (COGS).
For Edie, it was ‘love at first map', and 15 years later, she's still making her living from it. As a cartographic product engineer for Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) in California, Edie develops geographic information system (GIS) software. "I work closely with the computer programmers to develop software that our clients will be able to easily use," she says. This software is used by clients located around the world including government organizations, national mapping agencies, and militaries.
Known as the world leader in GIS, ESRI recruited Edie right out of school. With top grades and a fistful of awards including the acclaimed National Geographic Award in Cartography, Edie was a natural choice. Since 1996, she has held a few different positions with the company including working for their publishing division. During that time, she helped edit a number of books and co-authored "Cartographica Extraordinaire," a book about historical mapping.
Edie credits NSCC with preparing her for the world of work. "My career has exceeded what I expected," she says. "I feel so fortunate, after all these years since graduation, to be still working on cartography. Everything I do is related to either making maps or helping other people make maps."
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