Title: Spatial Data Analyst
Employer: UW Madison Population Health Institute County Health Rankings and Roadmaps program
Previous Roles: Pathways Intern, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Jessica graduated in 2019 with her Bachelor’s in Integrative Biology and minors in Sustainability and Animal Science. She was unsure of what she wanted to do after graduation, so she took Translating your IB Degree into Career Success at the start of her Senior year to figure out her options. She used the career options she learned about to explore what careers would be right for her, and started thinking about public health, which she heard about from an alumnus that spoke in the course. She used her course connections to reach out to that alumni, and after doing more research decided to pursue a public health degree. In May of 2020, she graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with her Master of Public Health in Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. While pursuing her master's degree, she completed a Pathways Internship with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 5. Additionally, as a part of her masters degree she took several GIS (geographic information system) classes, and her GIS skills were very valuable for being hired for her internship and current position as a Spatial Data Analyst.

As a Spatial Data Analyst for the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps program (within the UW Madison Population Health Institute), she utilizes GIS software to analyze place-based population health data and to create interactive web mapping applications to display the data on maps online. Additionally, she supports literature review, data analysis, and media response for the County Health Rankings annual state reports, national report, and data updates.

Jessica would be a great person to talk to if you’re also on a winding career journey and want to talk to someone who has just gone through the same thing. She would also be a great person to talk with if you are interested in Public Health and/or GIS, or want to learn more about graduate programs in Public Health. Finally, if you're exploring a potential career in the federal government, she'd be happy to talk to you about what it's like to find and apply for federal government internships.

Contact Christina Swanson at alumnimentor@sib.illinois.edu if you would like to connect with Jessica. You can also view her LinkedIn Profile at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-hoffelder