Jim Coll

Hi. My name is Jim Coll and I’m a ‘Physical Scientist - General Interest’ at Lynker working with the NOAA Office of Water Prediction. My skill set revolves broadly around the intersection of GIScience and Hydrology with a flair towards FOSS (Free and Open Source Software). My masters work was in quantifying and visualizing the global trend in snow cover. My dissertation seeks to demonstrate how small UAS (drones) can be used to measure bathymetry and discharge at hyper-resolution scales. Intense dislikes include temperatures over 70° and most seafood, but I love finding new music, dogs, and snowboarding. Thanks for visiting, and if you have any questions feel free to reach out to me at jamesmcoll at gmail

Doctor of Philosophy in Geography

Ongoing · University of Kansas

Thesis: Scales of Hydrography: Methods in Measurement and Communication

Masters of Science in Environmental Science

2014 - 2016 · University of Kansas

Thesis: Comprehensive Accuracy Assessment of MODIS Snow Cover Products and Global Snow Cover Trend Analysis

Bachelors of Science in Environmental Science and Policy

2012 - 2014 · Plymouth State University

Thesis: Paleoecology of a Kettle Bog

Geospatial Hydroscience Developer

2022 - Current · Lynker

Tackling big data questions across the flood mapping and remote sensing domain

Geospatial Hydroscience Developer

2021 - 2022 · CISESS - University of Alabama

As an Assistant Research Professional for the Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth System Studies (CISESS) at the University of Alabama, I improved process representation and created validation data for the FIM projects and built out terrain and processing tools needed to parameterize channel routing models.

HERS student mentor

2020 - 2021 · Kansas NSF EPSCoR

Developed GIS curriculum guidance and critical spatial thinking assessment for the Haskell Environmental Research Studies summer program for indigenous undergraduate students.

Student Course Coordinator and Research Fellow

2016 - 2017 · CUAHSI Summer Institute

As a student course coordinator I helped lead students towards the successful execution of projects related to the National Water Model, and as a Research Fellow I worked at the National Water Center in advancement of the National Water Model.

River Forecast Hydrologist - Student Volunteer

2015 - 2016 · Missouri Basin River Forecast Center

Forecasted river conditions alongside senior forecasters and developed working knowledge of NOAA river forecasting models, tools, and data inputs.

Research Fellow

2017 - 2019 · AAG - UCGIS - UIUC CyberGIS Summer Schools

Developed background and principles of CyberGIS cloud and HPC practices, with a focus on LIDAR processing and ARCO standards.

Cartographer 1

2014 · New Hampshire Department of Safety

Used ArcGIS and GPS to map locations across New Hampshire for emergency response use. Developed standard operating procedures to streamline mapping products as the state transitioned to the NextGen 911 system.

FAA Certified Remote Pilot

Active · Part 107 FAA Remote Pilot - commercial drone operator

Introduction to GEOINT

Introduction to geospatial technology and problem solving in the intelligence community

Introduction to GIS

Introduction to ArcGIS and GIScience

Intermediate GIS

Intermediate ArcGIS and GIScience concepts

Random

An assortment of tutorials, links, and random musings

Google Earth Engine

Flood mapping

Adventures in Geodesy

Journal Articles

2018. Coll J M, Li X. Comprehensive Accuracy Assessment of MODIS Daily Snow Cover Products and Gap Filling Methods. Remote Sensing of Environment.

2018. Johnson J. M, Coll J M, Ruess J. P, and Hastings T. J. . Challenges and Opportunities for Creating Intelligent Disaster Alerts. Journal of the American Water Resources Association.

Other Peer Reviewed Articles

2019. Coll J M, Li X. Google Earth Engine. Geographic Information Science & Technology Body of Knowledge.

2018. . National Water Centers Innovators Program Summer Institute Report. Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. Technical Report No 14. CUAHSI.

2016. Maidment, D.R., Rajib, A., Lin, P., Clark, E. P. National Water Center Innovators Program Summer Institute Report. Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. Technical Report No. 13 (Chapters 1 & 13). CUAHSI.

ESIP Cloud Computing Community Fellow

2021 - 2022 · ESIP

Assisted cloud computing cluster in monthly telecon, seasonal meetings, and the Pangeo Showcase

Graduate representative

2020 · Geography and Atmospheric Science Curriculum Committee

Provided graduate student prospective on curriculum related affairs for the department

AP Environmental Science Reader

2020, 2022 · The College Board

Read for the Advanced Placement Environmental Science exam

Graduate Student Advisory Board

2018 · KU Graduate Affairs

Advised Graduate affairs as to how to codify the mentor-mentee relationship as laid out in the graduate student handbook

Graduate Student Volunteer

2017-2018 · Science Olympiad

Wrote and proctored exams in the Remote Sensing and Dynamic Planet: Glaciers topics

Vice president

2018 · Geography Student Organization

Provided graduate student support to departmental events

President/past president

2015-2020 · GISDay@KU

Organized and hosted GISDay at KU

Course development Scholarship (2020)

· University of Kansas Intelligence Community Centers for Academic Excellence

KU Graduate Research Competition (2018)

· University of Kansas Office of Graduate Studies

KU Field Station Student Research Award (2018)

· Kansas Biological Survey - KBS

Capital Graduate Research Summit (2016 & 2018)

· Kansas

Cyrosphere flash freeze award (2017)

· AGU Cryosphere section

COMET grant (2016)

· UCAR and NOAA Partners Projects

Eagle Scout

· Boy Scouts of American