The Geoholics

In this inspiring episode of The Geoholics Podcast, Kent is joined by special guests Anna Rios and Amanda Allred to shine a spotlight on the Future Surveyors Foundation and the upcoming Women Surveyors Summit (WSS) 2025 in Las Vegas.

The show kicks off with Geoholics news and happenings—INTERGEO, Trimble Dimensions, and, of course, the highly anticipated Women Surveyors Summit in October. Powered by EMLID and supported by our incredible sponsors, this episode blends industry updates with thought-provoking dialogue about the future of surveying.

The guests share the origin story and mission of the Future Surveyors Fo...

This week the boys fired up the mics for an episode that’s equal parts rock concert, tech summit, and surveying masterclass. Sponsored by Emlid, the show kicked off with news, happenings, and a little Linkin Park fuel—because nothing says “let’s talk LiDAR and AI” like One Step Closer pounding in the background.

After the TopoDOT Song of the Week and a few Hexagon pro tips, the crew welcomed Alex Baikovitz, Co-Founder and CEO of Mach9. Born in Miami, forged at Carnegie Mellon, and seasoned by building robots to inspect nuclear facilities, Alex has one mission: h...

This week’s episode was fueled by innovation, mentorship, and a whole lot of passion for the surveying profession. Brought to you by EMLID, the crew kicked things off with Geoholics News & Happenings, some personal catch-ups, and the TopoDOT Song of the Week—a nod to Ozzy Osbourne’s Flying High Again. Perfect choice, considering the theme of perseverance and vision that ran through the conversation.

Sponsors Spotlight

EMLID: All-in-one aerial survey kit—GNSS, checkpoints, tools, and streamlined workflows.

TopoDOT: Total data governance for point cloud workflows.

Diamondback Land Surveying (DBLS): A full-s...

This week the crew sat down with Carla Lauter, Senior Content Manager for Geo Week and the Commercial UAV Expo—and let’s just say, curiosity is her superpower!

We kicked things off with Geoholics News & Happenings, a few laughs, and some sponsor shoutouts (big thanks to Emlid, TopoDOT, AllTerra Central, Hexagon, NLC Prep, GEODNET, and David Evans & Associates—you rock!). 

Carla took us on a journey through her unique path—from studying marine biology and environmental science to NASA Earth Science, where she translated complex ocean data into stories the rest of us could actually...

In this episode, we hit the road—literally—with Tim Hawthorne and the Auburn University Geo Explorer crew, the masterminds behind America’s first solar-powered, science-on-wheels geoscience lab. We cruised through the big ideas that sparked its creation (spoiler: one was so wild it nearly made the RV blush), how pioneering status shaped every bolt and blueprint, and the logistical magic of fitting cutting-edge tech into a space smaller than some people’s closets.

We geeked out on the coolest hands-on moments—think drone flights, augmented reality, and rock-solid geology demos—that had students’ eyes lighting up brighter than...

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

00:30 - Matthew Bainbridge - Principal @ Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc.

14:10 - Jason Haynes - Reality Capture Director/Survey Division Manager @ Pennoni

34:55 - Gavin Schrock - Consulting Editor and Land Surveyor & Shane O'Regan - Director iCON, Building Construction Field Portfolio at Leica Geosystems part of Hexagon

53:42 - Bernhard Richter - VP Geomatics @ Leica Geosystems part of Hexagon

01:07:10 - Liam Thierens - Partner | General Manager - Spatial @ Bennett + Bennett

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

03:50 - Steven Thurgood - Business Development Manager @ Hexagon Geosystems 

21:30 - Robert Young - Principal Surveyor @ Trans Texas Surveying and Mapping, LLC  

43:15 - Tom Givon - Vice President Marketing & Solutions @ GIV Solutions & Ivan Swindull - Innovation Domain Lead @ ExxonMobil 

01:06:45 - Hans-Martin Zogg - Business Director TPS @ Leica Geosystems

01:22:10 - John Fraser - Regional President @ Hexagon Geosystems

01:39:30 - Matthew Anderle - Director of Digital Strategy @ AECOM

This episode brings together two surveying powerhouses from the great state of Wisconsin - Rich Leaver, LS and Matt O’Rourke, LS - for a deep dive into the future of boundaries (spoiler: they’re more important than you think). Rich shares how he went from re-monumenting 3,000 PLS corners in Wisconsin to exploring Switzerland’s multi-purpose cadastre system—because why not fix 99% of U.S. surveying problems with chocolate-fueled innovation? 

Meanwhile, Matt talks about navigating his 24+ years in land surveying, helping a two-person firm grow into a thriving team, and how to keep your cool when dealing with comp...

Hold onto your antennae and calibrate your coordinates — this episode blasts off into GNSS orbit with Mike Horton of GEODNET and Larry Fox of Bad Elf! We’re talking democratization, satellites, and a robot invasion of 2025 (no big deal).

From Chicago’s north side to UC Berkeley and beyond, these GPS pioneers dropped knowledge like satellites in freefall:

Why decentralizing GNSS might just save the world (or at least your drone survey).

How GEODNET is quietly assembling the world’s largest RTK network — one miner at a time.

And what happens when a “Ba...

In this high-octane episode, the Geoholics gang sits down with forensic legend turned Leica laser-scanning maestro, Ryan Rezzelle—a man who’s equally comfortable at a quadruple homicide scene and in full cosplay at Comic-Con.

From his roots in shrinking Erie, PA (home of the world’s coldest windchill and warmest hearts), Ryan walks us through a career that spans 800+ homicide investigations, NCAA football, and selling cutting-edge 3D tech like it’s hotcakes at a garage sale. Oh—and he once solved a case involving a live grenade. Casual.

Career plot twist: Ryan swapped body bags for p...

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

00:11 - Daniel Bollone, MBA, GISP - Geographic Information Systems Administrator at The City of Winter Garden, FL

12:15 - Robyn Ryan Knaak - Partner at TopoDOT

33:00 - Natasha George - Senior CAD Tech at Hirani Engineering and Land Surveying, P.C.

50:05 - Tatiana Osuna, Geomatic Engineer and Travis St. Hilaire, Land Surveyor at Langan

01:04:25 - Mike McGill, Strategic Growth Lead, Utility Engineering at Looq AI

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

00:11 - Kevin Hardy, PLS, GISP - Vice President Geospatial Technologies at TerraMark 

18:50 - Don Seals, RPLS - Lidar Survey Manager at TREKK Design Group, LLC 

34:18 - Chris Siebern - Application Success Manager with Design Technology Services at Colliers Engineering & Design

58:30 - Trisha Milliken - Business Manager and Scott Graham, PSM - ETM Survey, Inc.

01:16:43 - Frank Hahnel - Laser Scanning Account Executive at NavVis

In this episode, we dive headfirst into the wonderfully random life of Adam Schorger—a man who’s lived in Saudi Arabia, studied gunsmithing, wrestled with journalism, befriended GIS, and still manages to fit in gym time and screenless hobbies. Basically, he’s a one-man Swiss Army knife of the geospatial world.

The hosts, powered by caffeine and TopoDOT hype, guide us through tales of failing forward, mentoring like a boss, and building GIS empires from scratch at Orbital Engineering—because who doesn’t want a side of cartography with their asset management?

Adam also debunks th...

Strap in and grab your Trimble, because Episode 252 of The Geoholics takes us on a globetrotting, tech-loving, swamp-sloshing survey saga with none other than Chad Maxwell, PLS—a man who’s mapped more terrain than your Roomba on espresso.

We kick things off with the usual “Jake Owen sings while KG wings it” intro, followed by breaking news from the land of satellite miners, career advice from the GeoSearch crew, and an ESRI pro tip that may or may not involve chair-based motivation.

Then it’s time for the main event: Chad “Every Mode of Transport” M...

In this data-drenched episode, Kent, Producer Sean and Russ Hall bring the heat with updates, promos, and a life-altering reminder that you can impact anyone within 3 feet…unless you’re holding a GNSS rover—in which case, give them a little more room.

Enter Ted Knaak, the President of TopoDOT and certified geospatial Jedi. Ted takes us on a journey from Jersey Shore roots to launching Riegl USA in the 90s, and then mic-dropping the geospatial world with TopoDOT in 2011—because clearly, satellites weren’t ambitious enough.

We talk TopoShare (data governance’s cooler cousin), reality capt...

This week, the Geoholics hit the big 2-5-0, and what better way to celebrate than digging deep — literally — into the glamorous, pulse-pounding world of trenchless technologies and underground infrastructure! Our guests, Sam "The Sultan of Subsurface" Ariaratnam and Firat "The Pipeline Picasso" Sever, taught us that real heroes don’t wear capes — they wear hard hats and dream of pipes bigger than your average minivan. We learned that Urban infrastructure needs trenchless tech like a millennial needs Wi-Fi...Misconceptions about underground work abound — spoiler alert: it’s not just giant moles and angry dwarves down there...UESI isn’t a secret socie...

Apologies for the audio challenges...it was one of those nights!!

In this episode, the Geoholics crew sits down with serial startup whisperer Sean Gorman, co-founder of Zephr.xyz—a company so cutting-edge it probably triangulated this podcast before it aired. Sean, who grew up everywhere from Germany to the Philippines (basically Carmen Sandiego in reverse), shares how a life of constant relocation and rowing (yes, actual rowing) shaped his journey into geospatial tech superstardom.

The conversation navigates GPS spoofing, blockchain-based RTK, and turning your phone into a location-locked superhero—all while trying to make sens...

The guys were joined in-studio this week by Colin Sellers—land surveyor, father, veteran, and part-time GPS wizard—joined us to discuss how moving around Georgia, joining the military, and raising a kid named Ragnarok (yes, like the Norse apocalypse) all led to one thing: a love affair with surveying that might just rival his affection for coffee.

From dodging camels in Djibouti to resurrecting section corners like Indiana Jones with a data collector, Colin shares tales of grit, GPS, and generational wisdom—especially the time he and his son turned a Nebraska project into a family bondin...

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

01:05 - Nathan Jones, UAS/GIS Department Lead @ AG3 Group LLC

18:50 - Will Alexander, Geospatial Specialist @ Centurion Planning & Design, LLC

29:50 - Scott Dunham, Geospatial Director @ Gorrondona & Associates, Inc.

38:28 - José A. Pilartes-Congo, Jr., Ph.D. Research Assistant @ MANTIS Lab (Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying & Science)

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

00:40 - Vladimir Serkov, LiDAR Manager @ Poznecki Camarillo, LLC

17:30 - Alex Sorrells, Student @ Texas A&M University

31:15 - Terrance Ranney, Drone Services Manager @ UNICO Engineering, Inc.

44:25 - Stephen Anthony, Principal Geospatial Data Engineer @ CoreLogic

53:50 - Sally Holl, GIS Professor @ Austin Community College

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

00:32 -  Elisse Deleissegues, GIS Analyst at Hawai'i Geographic Information Coordinating Council (HIGICC)

17:10 - Beverly Pascual, Civil Engineer at Engineers Surveyors Hawaii, Inc.

29:12 - Clare Mamura, Owner of Pacific Geospatial Services and President of Hawai'i Geographic Information Coordinating Council (HIGICC) 

42:58 - Jim Reinbold, Regional Sales Director at Carlson Software 

57:14 - Meyer Cummins, LPLS State of Hawaii 

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

00:30 Alika Garo, Project Surveyor at Sam O. Hirota, Inc.

10:02 Cliff Yim, Licensed Land Surveyor in the State of Hawaii

20:38 Joey Furlett, Realtor-Broker & Attorney (HI+IL) and Commercial & Residential Real Estate Expert 

35:55 Sarah Falzarano, Strategic Planner at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

52:42 Loren Slentz, Operations Manager at Maui Land Surveyors

1:03:12 Edward Carlson, Pacific Region Geodetic Advisor at National Geodetic Survey

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

01:00 - Victor Rasgado, Senior Surveyor at Stantec Consulting Services

12:09 - Heath Huovinen, Land Surveyor at The Independent Hawaii Surveyors   

27:05 - Sarah Halpern, Geospatial Scientist  

37:47 - Puiemau Paopao 

49:32 - Michelle Alvarado, Geospatial Scientist    

1:01:15 - Stephen Ambagis, Partner Air Data Solutions / Resource Mapping Hawaii

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...

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...

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...

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

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

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

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

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...

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...

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...

We love these guys and you will to! We were joined this week by Rob Cammack, Founder/CEO, Taylor Dixon, Co-Founder, Hayes Wilkinson, Geospatial Data Department Lead and Bailey Franklin, Marketing Lead all with SmartDrone. SmartDrone's mission is to revolutionize aerial surveying and mapping. Their focus is on making drone technology accessible and efficient for professionals in industries like construction, engineering, and land surveying. During this episode we explored all the cutting-edge solutions provided by SmartDrone including their flagship product, Discovery, a drone platform designed to simplify the process of collecting, analyzing, and applying high-resolution aerial data. SmartDrone's emphasis...

It's always fun when we have the Cyanic Automation crew on the show and this time was no different! The guys were joined this week by Doug Kondor, Founder & CEO and Mike Heath, Founder & CTO at Cyanic Automation with a bonus appearance by Brian Ball, PLS an all around good guy from MH Surveys! Take this journey with us as we dive into the innovative world of Job Book, a cutting-edge platform revolutionizing how professionals manage all phases of their projects and the daily operation of their respective businesses all in ONE place. With real-time project monitoring, streamlined invoicing...

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

00:30 – James Richards @ Benchmark Surveys

11:45 – Paul Cracroft-Wilson & Dean Warren @ Bennett and Bennett

24:15 – Adam Long & Airrik Martinez @ SAM, Inc

36:10 – Claire Fenwick @ Spatial Dimensions

49:50 – Tate Childers @ ALTA Southwest, Mike Walle @ Denn Engineers and Will Wing @ Infinity Land Surveying

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

04:20 – Owen Chamberlain @ Trimble

15:00 – Mike Cisar @ Trimble

29:30 – Andy Pavletich @ DroneDeploy

43:20 – Chris Daggett & Julie Paull @ Atwell

53:10 – Mickey Kocemba & Eddo Feyen @ Mortenson Construction

1:07:50 – Moshe Dalman @ Rodradar

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

04:20 – Michael Tartaglia, Technology Specialist and Sales Account Manager at Sitech Southwest & Chris Kellogg, Digital Construction Professional at Sitech Midway

21:50 - Chris Trevillian, Senior Director Product Go To Market at Trimble Inc.

38:40 - Marla Horn, Intern @ McKim & Creed Inc. & Christian Hayes, both Geomatics Students at the University of Florida

48:20 - Michael Barrett & Chad Phillips from PENNDOT

01:03:45 - Swathi Kottali, Regional BIM/VDC Manager at Yates Construction, Commercial Drone Pilot, Data En...

We love it when a plan comes together! The guys were joined this week by a gaggle of mapping professionals including our good friend Bill Swope - Technical Leader for Survey & Geospatial @ Halff, Scott Dunham - Geospatial Director @ Gorrondona & Associates, Inc., and Balaji Ramachandran - Associate Research Professor @ Nicholls State University. Each of these guys plays an integral part in facilitating the upcoming 2025 ASPRS Business Meeting & Geospatial Conference to be held March 12th-14th in one of our favorite cities, Austin, Texas. You will learn everything there is to know about ASPRS in addition to being privy to all...

Dennis' career is one to behold! He spent over 30 years as a surveyor at the BLM and has plenty to say about the land survey profession. This time around we discussed the benefits of a multipurpose cadastre, the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, who maintains it, AR/VR and surveying applications, and where all of this goes from here! Dennis is a wealth of knowledge with a cutting edge perspective and we are honored to call him a friend. A few additional takeaways include...be as digital as possible, always focus on the evidence, you have to love your work...