Damian Spangrud is a Managing Director at Esri. In his 30+ years at Esri, he has focused on making the Science of Where understandable and actionable. As part of Esri’s management team, he often travels to speak about the role of GIS and innovation trends. Damian manages teams that evangelize the role of GIS across industries and build industry focused apps, making it easier to use GIS across organizations while driving innovation. Damian is also a member of the executive team for the Point Conception Institute, a global conservation science institute based at The Nature Conservancy’s Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve. Damian has an MSc in Earth Science and a BS in Geography and a passion for maps and spatial analysis.

Joe Ceru has been a Meteorologist with the National Weather Service for 20 years. Over that time he’s served throughout the country. He was at the State College, PA NWS office for just shy of a decade and at the NWS Pueblo, CO office for 3 years. Joe started his career with the NWS as a paid intern while attending Central Michigan University, Joe graduated CMU with degrees in Meteorology and Geographic Information Science in 2007. Previously Joe served with the United States Navy as a meteorological observer and assistant forecaster from 1998 until 2002. Joe is also the GIS and Aviation Program lead at the Grand Rapids Office.