Short Bio For Me

I've been in Washington, D.C., since Monday. I finally gave my presentation today at the JACIE 2008 conference. After listening to all the talks on Tuesday, I was struck by one thing: people's bio's. The emcee would introduce the next speaker and then read a novel about the person as the bio. Two in particular stuck out to me: Dr. Gene Whitney (from the White House Office and Science and Technology), and Kass Green (newly elected president of ASPRS). There's weren't really anything more than anyone else's, but they stuck with me due to the length and detail provided.

The funny thing was that after they were introduced, they'd stand before the audience and act a little bashful, like they were embarrassed so much was read about them (while we all know they provided the bio...).

I decided to have a little fun. Here's the bio I submitted to the conference committee and it was read before my talk today:

Jess Clark is a remote sensing analyst for RedCastle Resources, under contract at the US Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Center (RSAC), in Salt Lake City, Utah. He has a B.S. in GIS and an M.S. in Geography, both from Brigham Young University. Jess manages the post-fire severity mapping program at RSAC for all wildfires on US Forest Service lands.

Since his professional bio will never compare to Gene Whitney or Kass Green, here are a few personal tidbits: Jess roots for the San Francisco Giants, Indianapolis Colts, Utah Jazz, and Nebraska Cornhuskers (all representing states he's lived in). He loves to golf, play basketball, and city-league softball. He's not a big fan of candle-lit dinners or long walks on the beach, but he still managed to get married and now has three beautiful daughters. Oh, and he's finally turning 30 this year!

Needless to say, it was unlike any bio read during this conference.