Kevin Burkman 
Geographic Information Systems Analyst 

Professional Summary

​

Full resume here

​

I have been involved with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis for nearly 20 years. I currently work at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), where I work in the Bureau of GIS (BGIS), administering GIS data and applications, as well as GIS instruction.

​

Outside of my current professional roles, I perform extensive pro-bono GIS work for non-profits and municipalities. For more than ten years, I have been involved in mapping projects which focus on open space and historic land preservation, outdoor recreational mapping, historical events, and historic land cover/land use analysis. These projects allow me to use my professional skills to give back to causes and interests for which I am passionate, including geography, history, natural sciences, and land planning in urban and natural environments. 

 

Previous to my employment at the NJDEP, I worked in the private sector, including, New Jersey Future, a Trenton, NJ non-profit promoting smart-growth. As a program fellow, I performed places-to-age and downtown economic redevelopment analysis, with a strong emphasis on spatial data and mapping.

 

I was also employed by Civil Solutions in Branchburg, NJ, where I performed client spatial data processing for client local and state municipalities, including data maintenance, georeferencing historic aerial imagery, utility updates, building footprints, zoning and tax/parcel maps for dozens of New Jersey and Pennsylvania municipalities.

​

Public Service Leadership:

Montgomery Township Open Space Committee

​

I have been a member of our township’s open space committee,  since 2015. My work with the committee includes geospatial analysis and map making, and providing feedback on current or potential open space in the township.

 

My greatest role is as a sub-committee manager, co-leading the creation of the Sourland View Preserve, located in one of the township’s more rural sections. Work at this preserve has enabled me to use and synthesize my education and experience in environmental and urban planning and in particular, the creation of places and spaces for both humans and nature. My roles there include:

 

• Advise our township open space coordinator on preserve development and progress.

• Scout and cut trails in the woods and fields of the preserve.

• Identify sites of natural resource interest and importance.

• Develop an interpretive program for natural and human aspects of the preserve landscape, including historic land cover.

• Conduct invasive plant removal and native landscape restoration*.

• Assist in organizing public trail work events with Montgomery community members.

• Map human and natural aspects of the preserve, including progress maps/ reports, and creation of master/vision plan maps. 

• Create and maintain social media and email blasts for the greater Montgomery community.

 

 * This is inspired by my work in invasive plant removal and native landscape restoration at my residence; I have converted about half of our property (about one acre) into a native plant arboretum, with a variety of habitats for sun and shade loving ferns, grasses, herbaceous plants, understory shrubs, and large deciduous/coniferous trees.

 

The work on our property resulted in my receiving the Montgomery Township Environmental Award/Homeowner of the Year in 2021.

​

Education

​

In 2015, I earned my master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. . My core curriculum at Bloustein was in physical design and land use, and included a semester-long studio project for coastal resiliency for the town of Secaucus, New Jersey, as well as the American Frontier Studio for the National Center for Frontier Communities organization. During my studies at Bloustein, I was the GIS lead for these and other projects.

 

In May, 2008, I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Planning at Rutgers University’s George H. Cook College and in particular the Grant F. Walton Center for Remote Sensing & Spatial Analysis (CRSSA). My degree had a particular focus on GIS, and my studies included independent GIS study projects; an analysis of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s hiker usage patterns in the Delaware Valley region, and a project focused on the land use and preservation of Gettysburg National Military Park. As a result, I was given the Teuvo Airola Award as the best Environmental GIS student in my graduating class.

 

I was a non-traditional college student, having started my college education in my 40’s at Mercer County Community College (West Windsor, NJ), where I earned an Associate of Science degree in biology in 2004. For 13 years prior to this, I was a quality assurance manager for Devault Foods, a food processing plant in the Philadelphia region, and was responsible for implementing and overseeing a range of microbiological, safety, and quality control programs. This experience, and in particular the attention to precision that it entailed, gave me an excellent foundation of analytical skills, which I have brought to my years as a scholar, and a professional geographer.

​

​