[OSGeo-Discuss] Fwd: Charter Member Nomination: Michele Tobias

[Jeff McKenna]

Forwarding Michele Tobias nomination by Kristin Bott. The 2017 member 
nominations list has been updated [1].

Best regards,
Vasile & Jeff
2017 OSGeo Elections CROs

[1] https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/New_Member_Nominations_2017


-------- Forwarded Message --------

Nominee: Michele Tobias, USA
Nominator: Kristin Bott, USA; Charter Member 2014 / FOSS4G LOC 2014 / 
Code of Conduct Committee chair 2015-present

I am writing to nominate Michele Tobias for OSGeo Charter Membership. 
Michele is active in the development of FOSS4G software and open data 
projects, as the lead programmer on the Literature Mapper plugin for 
QGIS, the Data Curation Lead for the UC Davis Library’s American 
Viticulture Area boundary data creation project, and an active 
contributor to OpenDroneMap. She was a founding member of the OSGeo 
California chapter and is currently a *re*founding member of the QGIS US 
users group (in collaboration with Randall Hale and Kurt Menke).

Michele brings experience in many open source tools; in GIS (QGIS, 
GRASS, SAGA GIS), and a number of programming languages (R, Python, 
HTML, Leaflet), and database systems (SQLite, PostGRES, PostGIS, 
SpatiaLite), as well as cartography and graphic design (Inkscape), 
Photogrammetry & Aerial Photograph Interpretation, and Kite Aerial 
Photography.

A regular presenter and/or workshop leader at FOSS4G (2017, 2014, 2011) 
and FOSS4G-NA (2016, 2015) conferences, Michele also is active within 
the OSGeo California chapter, serving on the organizing committee for 
their annual meetings (2015, 2013, 2011) as well as presenting at same 
(2016, 2011). Michele also takes her open source geospatial work outside 
of OSGeo venues, leading workshops at local (UC Davis Library, Davis R 
User Group) and statewide (California GIS Conference 2015 + 2014; GIS 
Day 2014) venues.

Finally, the call for Charter Members "strive[s] to promote diversity". 
While the above qualifications are completely compelling in their own 
right, Michele is a woman working in education, research, and science -- 
not OSGeo's predominant demographic. Additionally, Michele is interested 
in improving the diversity of both OSGeo membership and conference 
attendance; by including her as a Charter Member, OSGeo gains the 
further commitment of someone who is both technically very strong and 
also committed to building a community that is more accessible to all.