About Me

Welcome to Alpine Atlas!

This is where the art of mapping meets the spirit of the mountains. ❤︎

I’m Lauren, a cartographer and GIS professional based in Southwest Colorado, blending precision, design, and adventure to create maps that inspire.

My Journey

I grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with a lifelong fascination for maps and how they tell stories. That passion led me to study meteorology at the University of Oklahoma, where I discovered GIS and never looked back. After graduating, I moved to the mountains of Colorado to build a career doing exactly that.

For the past four years, I've served as the GIS Administrator for a Colorado mountain municipality where I design spatial data infrastructure, build public-facing web apps and dashboards, automate data pipelines, and lead a community trail wayfinding program from the ground up. I also hold a Graduate Certificate in GIS from the University of Colorado Denver and working towards my GISP certification.

Alpine Atlas is where the technical and the creative meet. Whether you need a beautiful custom map to hang on your wall, an interactive web map for your organization's website, or a full GIS data solution built on ArcGIS Online — I bring the same care and precision to all of it.

Let's build something worth looking at.

Work Experience

  • GIS Administrator & Addressing Coordinator

    Mountain Village, CO

    • Develops, maintains, and ensures integrity of all Town geospatial data

    • Leads GIS projects and collaborates across departments to support planning, safety, and engineering

    • Produces detailed maps and administers GIS services for public-facing and internal use

    • Manages Town address updates and leads communication with agencies like USPS, emergency services, and utilities

  • GIS Intern for Aztec Ruins National Monument

    Aztec, NM

    • Remapped historical structures using Leica GG04 GPS, ArcGIS Pro, Field Maps, and Survey123

    • Designed geodatabases and built domains with clear attribute schemas

    • Developed SOPs for data collection in a laser scan project

Projects

  • Town of Mountain Village

    • Assessed all Town addresses and identified those out of compliance with updated addressing standards

    • Re-addressed non-compliant properties and updated records with relevant entities (e.g., USPS, E911)

    • Coordinated with Town departments to minimize disruption and ensure smooth transitions

    • Facilitated public information sessions for neighborhoods to gather feedback and answer questions

  • Town of Mountain Village

    • Designed the Town’s summer hiking/biking and winter Nordic ski maps, incorporating cartographic best practices and Town branding

    • Co-developed trail sign and kiosk designs with the signage team for trailheads and intersections

    • Built an interactive 2D/3D web app to complement physical signage and display seasonal routes

    • Presenting to Town Council and Design Review Board for approvals and feedback

  • Town of Mountain Village

    • Researched plats and historical documents to identify acreage and zoning inconsistencies

    • Created a comparative report highlighting changes from the original 1995 plan

    • Presented findings to Town Council and corrected geodatabases accordingly

  • Town of Mountain Village

    • Developed and maintained Python scripts to automate GIS data pipelines, including REST-based data pulls, table joins, field updates, and publishing workflows to ArcGIS Online, reducing manual processing and error rates across core datasets.

    • Built automation tools to support municipal operations such as parcel data management, address readdressing, OpenGov permitting integrations, and routine updates to live web maps and feature services.

    • Implemented quality control and maintenance scripts (field validation, type normalization, link/status checks, batch updates of thousands of records) to ensure data integrity for public-facing and internal GIS applications.

  • Town of Mountain Village

    • Integrated datasets into AGOL from multiple departments to streamline cloud-based access

    • Built field maps for Parks & Rec and Public Works to capture real-time field data

    • Developed AGOL apps including Experience Builder, StoryMaps, FieldMaps, Instant Apps, and Survey123

  • Town of Mountain Village

    • Develop and maintain a connection between OpenGov permitting and the Town’s GIS systems to create more efficient internal workflows while reducing manual data handling and duplication.

  • Town of Mountain Village

    • Improved map templates by implementing modern cartographic styles and Town branding

  • Aztec Ruins National Monument

    • Captured and processed high-resolution 3D scans of historic ruins using the Leica BLK360 and Leica Cyclone software & authored a (SOP) for laser scanning workflows.

Professional Affiliations

    • Advocate for women in the GIS professional setting

    • Grow my professional network and offer mentorship to up and coming GIS professionals

    • Contribute to the weekly list-serve by answering various questions and interacting with fellow peers

    • Attend quarterly meet-ups to build relationships with GIS professionals in Colorado

    • Assist with running the quarterly zoom meet-ups by managing the discussions

    • Present GIS work I am actively completing or in the process of finishing

Maps I Designed

Town of Mountain Village Hiking & Biking Wayfinding Map

Designed for the summer trails wayfinding program

Telluride Ski & Golf Resort + Nordic Skiing

Designed for office use

Town of Mountain Village Zoning Map

Designed for office use

Trainings & Certificates

GIS FOR CLIMATE ACTION | April 2024
ESRI MOOC course on how GIS is assisting climate action

ACCESSIBLE MAPPING | March 2024
State of Colorado OIT GIS accessibility guidelines

GOING PLACES WITH SPATIAL ANALYSIS | September 2023
ESRI MOOC course on spatial analysis techniques and best practices

ESRI USER CONFERENCE | May 2023 & June 2025
Attended seminars and training courses for new GIS technology and workflows

CARTOGRAPHY | October 2022
ESRI MOOC course on cartography tips and tricks

Technical Skills

  • ESRI ArcGIS Mapping Suite

    • ArcGIS Pro

    • ArcGIS Online

    • Experience Builder

    • Survey123

    • FieldMaps

    • StoryMaps

    • Dashboards

    • ArcGIS Hub

    • MyEsri

    • Instant Apps

  • Trimble Catalyst

  • Leica field mapping products

  • Python (including ArcPy)

  • Postman & API Documentation

  • Microsoft Office Suite

  • Adobe Acrobat

  • Inkscape

  • Canva Pro

Soft Skills

  • Team-oriented

  • Leadership

  • Troubleshooting

  • Public Speaking

  • Time Management

  • Detail-oriented

Education

CU DENVER | FALL 2023 - SPRING 2025

Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) & Geomatics

Designed to strengthen professional GIS skills and provide a foundation for advanced GIS study. The certificate consists of four graduate-level core courses (B- or better required) covering GIS fundamentals, project management, interactive web mapping, and geomatics. Can be completed as a standalone credential or as preparation for a master’s degree in GIS or engineering.

UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA | FALL 2017 - SPRING 2021

Bachelors of Science in Meteorology & Minor in GIS

Completed a rigorous 120-credit meteorology curriculum emphasizing atmospheric processes, weather systems, dynamics, and climate, with hands-on lab and capstone experience. Coursework included atmospheric dynamics, physical meteorology, synoptic and mesoscale meteorology, measurement and observational systems, and research/communication methods. Built strong analytical and quantitative skills through supporting math and physics requirements, including calculus and physical mathematics. Additionally completed a minor in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), integrating spatial analysis and geospatial technology into interdisciplinary environmental science training.

UNIVERSITY OF READING, UK | SPRING 2020

Meteorology Exchange Program

Completed a semester-long international exchange focused on atmospheric science through a partnership between the University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology and the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. Gained global perspective on weather and climate systems, experienced meteorological education in a world-class UK program, and earned academic credit with approved course equivalencies toward the OU Meteorology curriculum.