With nearly four decades of professional experience, Kenneth Althiser has developed expertise in all areas of geoprocessing and modeling. Today, he excels as the technical lead of GIS for the City of Riverside, where he performs top-of-the-line geographical information systems analysis for the city’s arts and cultural affairs division. Daily, he is tasked with conducting analyses, overseeing cartography and database design, and maintaining local government applications. Driven by his enjoyment of his work and his evident passion for GIS, Mr. Althiser admits that he was originally intent on working in geology. “Geographic information systems didn’t exist when I was in school, so as the field developed, I became immersed and obsessed with each opportunity that I received in this new type of work,” he says, adding that he held numerous roles before joining the City of Riverside. One such role was with the University of Redlands, where he was responsible for modeling sea salt restoration alternatives and constructing an entirely new water budget based on his findings. When looking back on his career, Mr. Althiser notes that he has remained motivated because of the ever-changing nature of the geographic information systems industry. “There are always new tools that are being developed and you can do so much more with them,” he says.

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