In the mid 1980’s Kevin started his geospatial career with the Alberta Government at what was then called Maps Alberta (known now as Air Photo Services). Kevin made many contacts within industries, such as land surveyors, engineering firms, consultants and government agencies, by supplying them with hard copy maps and air photos. Having these contacts made Kevin the perfect fit as “The Imagery Guy” when he joined Tarin in 1994. Over the years, Kevin has maintained many long term professional and personal friendships with numerous clients, making him different from the typical hi-bye sales guy. Kevin has witnessed the evolution of geospatial data from cut and paste hard copy air photo mosaics, to today’s digital technology.

Jessica Blakeley obtained her degree in Natural Sciences and Geography from the University of Calgary in 2007, and immediately began her career with Tarin. She provided support to both clients and the sales team, managed an extensive data library, and produced orthophoto. Wanting to obtain more experience in GIS/mapping, Jessica moved on to a GIS consulting company where she excelled at data organization, data processing and cartography. She then moved to a pipeline company, where she utilized her knowledge to establish and manage their GIS department. Her duties included data organization of existing spatial data, data collection from various pipeline projects, mapping, presentations and GIS training. Back with Tarin in 2016, Jessica uses this experience to assist clients with online GIS implementation to improve decision making and create more efficient workflows.

Noor has always been curious of what the earth looked like from the sky and how urban and rural areas are planned. This led to always booking a window seat in planes (sometimes even begging for one) and collecting various globes to see what countries looked like. It’s no surprise that she ended up in the geospatial industry. In 2018, she graduated from SAIT with a Bachelors of GIS and started her career working as a GIS assistant in the Transportation & Agriculture Services Department at Strathcona County. Noor joined the Tarin family in 2019 as a Geomatics Technician and her knowledge of GIS is evident in the many ways she contributes to the team. She is excited about Aerial Imagery and learning everything she can about geospatial data and technology.

Nicole Kenney began her career with Tarin in 2002 as a receptionist and bookkeeper. Motivated to learn, Nicole helped the Office Manager with historical searches, satellite and orthophoto orders, as well as some mapping. Nicole created Tarin’s first PowerPoint Presentation and has since assisted the company with several marketing materials, including the company newsletter. Spending most of her career with Tarin, Nicole has had the opportunity to watch the company grow and evolve into the successful team it is today. Her love for problem solving and accuracy has proved to be extremely valuable in her role as Financial Controller. While her creativity, innovative thinking and adaptability make her the perfect fit as Marketing Director as well.

Therese has had a long love affair with mapping. She first fell in love with maps as a child while navigating during family road trips. Her love of mapping and outdoors led her to earning a Forest Technology Diploma from NAIT followed by a 19-year career with forestry, where her first position was a fire lookout 75 miles northwest of Ft. McMurray, Alberta. By 1989 she was mapping full time in the Ft. McMurray office, where pencil crayons and India ink pens were the tools of the day. In 1991 she was transferred to Rocky Mountain House and a year later she was introduced to GIS. After 7 years and the successful implementation of GIS in the Rocky Mountain House and Drayton Valley offices, Therese shifted from forestry to the Municipal Government. She successfully implemented and managed the GIS at Mountain View County for 12 years, during which time she completed her Applied Bachelor’s Degree in GIS from SAIT in 2012. Enterprise GIS, data management and building online applications became a focal point and it was this vision that took her to Big Lakes County in 2016. Therese joined the Team at Tarin in October 2019 as a GIS Consultant and she has never looked back. Even though her career has taken her all over Alberta, her one constant has been and will always be GIS because she is “spatial”.

Richard traces his love for maps and geography back to Grade 5, when the class project was crafting ‘maps’ out of play dough. He never looked back, and eventually completed an M.Sc. degree in Geography at University of Calgary. Roaming around the Athabasca Delta in Northern Alberta (thesis project) somehow translated into a consulting start-up, providing services in remote sensing. Since then, Richard has gained over 20 years of experience in the geospatial world, providing value to clients and organizations in a wide array of areas including geospatial application development, program management and strategic planning. More recently, Richard spent nearly 10 years with TECTERRA Inc., helping geomatics companies from across Canada obtain critical funding and support to fuel innovative geospatial solutions for a range of applications. In his ‘leisure hours’ you can find him ambling along trails in the local mountains, trying to keep pace with his much more agile adult children.