Surveying Articles

Week 147: A Real-World Look at Ethics & The Professional Surveyor

Episode 247 - Monte King, PLS

The guys (and Will Wing) were joined this week by Monte King, PLS, Supervisory Cadastral Surveyor at Bureau of Land Management. Monte shares insights into his upbringing, career, and passions. Growing up between the Wind River Reservation and various locations in Montana, Monte reflects on how these experiences shaped his perspective and career path. He shares memories of his childhood, outdoor adventures, and the lessons he would pass on to his younger self. With a surveying career spanning 17 states, he discusses the challenges of working in different terrains, memorable boundary projects, and the excitement of recovering original monuments. Monte emphasizes the importance of mentorship in the industry, offering advice to young surveyors and sharing key takeaways from his presentation at the 2023 Idaho Society of Professional Land Surveyors conference. He also delves into his work on the Cadastral Classroom Investigation, a project published by the BLM, and his involvement in hands-on field exercises with homeschool students. Additionally, Monte reflects on how his ranching background has influenced his work ethic and recounts fascinating stories, including trading a pocketful of rocks for the Marlboro Man’s pitbull. The conversation also touches on his advocacy for tobacco harm reduction and his message about safer nicotine alternatives. This episode offers a deep dive into Monte's journey, highlighting his dedication to surveying, mentorship, and making an impact in the field. Music by TOOL!

Episode 246 - Kevin Pomfret, Geospatial, Space & AI Attorney and Author

What an honor! The guys were joined this week by the one and only Kevin Pomfret. As a seasoned attorney based in Washington, D.C., Kevin specializes in navigating the legal and policy intricacies surrounding geospatial information and other types of data, from AI, data privacy, cybersecurity and intellectual property to national security. His focus is on the intersection of emerging technologies and law, particularly in areas like geospatial AI, space, Digital Twins and the evolving regulatory landscape of data collection and usage. Passionate about helping organizations stay compliant while innovating, Kevin provides counsel on the complexities of geospatial data to enable responsible and informed decision-making. Music by Bob Seger!

Week 146: Ground to Grid / Grid to Ground - Simple, Right?

Episode 245 - Bad Elf & Pix4D

It's been a while! The guys (and Will Wing!) were joined this week by Larry Fox, VP of Marketing & Business Development at Bad Elf and Christoph Strecha, Founder of Pix4D who shared insights into how the integration of Bad Elf’s GNSS technology with Pix4D’s software enhances accuracy and efficiency for geospatial professionals. We dive into the collaboration between Bad Elf and Pix4D, exploring their innovative 3D scanning solution and its impact on the AEC industry. We dug even deeper into comparing traditional reality capture methods like lidar and photogrammetry, addressing challenges in 3D spatial data capture, the future of mobile 3D scanning in AEC workflows, and the ease of integration with existing surveying and scanning workflows. Music by Black Sabbath!

GEOWEEK 2025 - DAY 3

Check out these highlights from Day 3 of this year's awesome event!!!

00:30 - Colton Anderson, Co-Founder of Kartorium

13:53 - Bill Lakeland, CEO at Spexi

28:14 - Elaine Ball, Co-Founder of Get Kids Into Survey and CEO at Elaine Ball, Ltd.

46:15 - Sam Beaupre, Sales Director at Geo-Plus

1:03:32 - Mateus Sione, Regional Manager at EMLID and Max Boosfeld, CEO at Wingtra

GEOWEEK 2025 - DAY 2 (Part 2)

Check out these highlights from Day 2 of this year's awesome event!!!

00:10 - William Peterson, Area Sales Manager at Flyability

15:35 - Joe Hutton, Director of Inertial Technology, Airborne Products at Trimble

25:12 - Pablo Fuentes, Co-Founder and Principal at Makepath

43:32 - Dennis Hirota, President at Sam O. Hirota, Inc.

1:05:48 - Susan Brattberg, Founder and Chief Customer Officer & Jessa Tracy, Director of Marketing at Global E-Training

1:20:32 - Courtney Tovar, QA/QC Manager at Aerial Services, Inc.

1:28:20 - Marc Goldman, Director of Industry Solutions at ESRI

GEOWEEK 2025 - DAY 2 (Part 1)

Check out these highlights from Day 2 of this year's awesome event!!!

00:30 - Ryan Palfrey, Product Manager at Emesent

12:12 - Pierangelo Rothenbuhler, CTO at Pix4D

26:20 - Mario Montagna, Navy Veteran, Survey Technician, Part 107 sUAS Pilot and Student of Geography, GIS, & Geomatics

44:10 - Montana Moore, GIS Analyst at Denver Regional Council of Governments

1:00:10 - Stuart Drahota, Virtual Building Leader and Josh Destefano, Innovation Leader at DPR Construction

1:19:24 - Jason Hayes, Market Manager 3D Laser Scanning Solutions at Trimble

GEOWEEK 2025 - DAY 1

Check out these highlights from Day 1 of this year's awesome event!!!

03:40 - Rami Tamimi, Founder and Head Instructor and Valeria Montero from The Survey School

18:58 - Sherry Rennick, Owner at Perspective 3D, LLC

31:45 - Dawn Zoldi, Founder and CEO at P3 Tech Consulting LLC

44:12 - Joshua Sanders, Student at Ferris State University

54:15 - Larry Fox, VP Marketing and Business Development at Bad Elf, LLC and Maithreyi Gopalakrishnan, Founder and CEO at PrecisionTerra

1:10:30 - Firas Fahoum, CTO at Galilee Surveyors, LTD

Week 145: Stage II of the Boundary Survey Process - Conducting Field Work the NLC Way

Episode 244 - The Mikes

This was one for the ages as they say! The guys were joined this week by two heavyweights in the land survey world. Mike #1 is Mike Banta, PLS who has been surveying for nearly 40 years and is the Survey Manager at Rick Engineering Company. Mike #2 is Mike Fondren, PLS who has been surveying for over 25 years and is the Survey Manager at RLF Consulting, LLC. We had SO MUCH fun discussing the evolution of land surveying, the current state of the industry and where land surveying is headed with these two legends. You're not going to want to miss this one...be like The Mikes! Music by Three Dog Night!

Week 144: The New YSN Mentoring Program

Episode 243 - Brian Owens, Honor, Family, Music & Words

Oh my word...yet another value adding and life changing episode! The guys were joined in-studio this week by our good friend Brian Owens. We believe Brian to be the FIRST in the "5 Timer" club! By day, Brian is the Vice President of Safety & Team Development at Buesing Corp. By night, Brian is not only a very talented musician, songwriter and author, but also a passionate crusader of workplace safety. As a philosopher, he strives to provide perspective to help people remember that the reason we work in the first place is to provide a sustainable means for the people, freedoms, and activities we all hold dear. As a safety professional, he reminds those same people that if we aren't behaving safely, and if we aren't being aggressively proactive to ensure the sustainment of our chosen ideals, we are just allowing situational circumstances to dictate the direction, and the outcome. Remember, if it ever gets hopeless, you overlooked something...let all that sink in! Music by Lynyrd Skynyrd!!

Week 143: Land Surveyor Safety

Episode 242 - Mikel Bowman - Cultural Guru @ Bowman Legacies

PSA...we're experimenting with some things so please bare with us as we fine tune the show format for 2025. On to the show...this is ALWAYS one of the most downloaded episodes of the year. The guys (and Peta Cox!) were joined this week by the one and only Mikel Bowman! We freakin love every second we get to spend with this guy and honored to call him a friend. Mikel is President at Bowman Legacies as well as a best selling author, coach, keynote speaker, leadership development coach, business and personal development coach, and mentor! There is so much value adding content in this episode that you'd be a damn fool not to give it a listen! Music by Metallica!

EP203 - Carl R. C.de Baca - Surveyors & California Fires

This week's episode of "Surveyor Says! The NSPS Podcast" takes on the serious subject of surveyors and their role dealing with wildfires. Our guest, Carl C.de Baca, a professional land surveyor with R.E.Y. Engineers, Inc. from Folsom, CA. Carl and Tim recently sat down to discuss conditions of performing parcel tracement in post-disaster condition, biohazards to consider, and compilation of records research and data collection processes. A can't miss conversation so check it out today!

NSPS Foundation Disaster Relief Help Available!

The Foundation is a tax deductible 501(c)(3) organization.

DONATE NOW to the NSPS Foundation Disaster Relief Fund here:

https://nsps.us.com/page/DisasterRelief

Week 142: Key Strategies for a Successful Land Surveying Business

EP202A - NSPS Young Surveyors Network (YSN Election 2025 - Meet the Secretary Candidates

Get ready to fill your NSPS Young Surveyors Network (YSN) ballot for new officers! How? Listen to this episode of "Surveyor Says! The NSPS Podcast" for a terrific conversation with the two candidates for Secretary, Stacy Pollock (Michigan) and Adam Thayer (Idaho). Lots of great insights on the collaboration within this exciting group, so check it out today! YSN members are eligible to vote, so make sure you are signed up today. Elections close on December 31st!

EP202B - NSPS Young Surveyors Network (YSN) Election 2025 - Meet the VP Candidates

Get ready to fill your NSPS Young Surveyors Network (YSN) ballot for new officers! How? Listen to this episode of "Surveyor Says! The NSPS Podcast" for a terrific conversation with the two candidates for Vice President, Farrah Etcheverry (Arizona) and Jon Geffre (South Dakota). Lots of great insights to the collaboration of this exciting group, so check it out today! YSN members are eligible to vote, so make sure you are signed up today. Elections close on December 31st!

Week 141: Time-Dependent Coordinates in the Modernized NSRS

Week 140: The Michigan and Ohio State Line - Famous State lines surveyed by Samuel Stinson Gannett

EP201 - Patrick Veraguth, Minnesota County Surveyor

This episode of "Surveyor Says! The NSPS Podcast" asks the question: what does a county surveyor do? It turns out to be much more than we anticipated! Patrick Veraguth, County Surveyor for Douglas and Grant County (MN), and current president of the National Association of County Surveyors (NACS), joined Tim Burch to discuss the role and much more. Pat shared the day-to-day responsibilities of the country surveyor as well as their role in informing AND protecting the public. An informative conversation, so check it out today!

https://www.countysurveyors.org/

https://surveyorsays.podbean.com/

Week 139: Survey Technician Boot Camp Overview

EP200 - The NSPS YSN and the Future of Surveying

This week’s recording marks the 200th episode of the “Surveyor Says!” podcast and rather than look back at where we have been, we decided to look ahead to the future of surveying. And who better to have as our guests than the current Young Surveyors Network officers, Nolan Mark, President, Cam Lowe, Vice President, and Spencer McCutcheon, Secretary.

They were all gracious enough to take some time out of their busy schedules to talk with me about what is going on right now in the profession, what are the positives we have going for us, and what the future of surveying looks like from their perspective.

A great conversation you do not want to miss!