January’s GIS Ambassador: Clément Charré

This month’s GIS Ambassador is Clément Charré a GIS Project Manager at ASG Mapping Ltd. Find out how he’s been supporting the use of GIS in K-12 education in the francophone community in Ottawa.

January’s GIS Ambassador of the month is Clément Charré a GIS Project Manager at ASG Mapping Ltd. in Ottawa, Ontario. Originally from France, Clément is passionate about geography and sharing his GIS knowledge with the younger generation. He’s lived, studied and worked in many places, including New Zealand, Argentina, Mexico, Spain, and France.

“I have always attached great importance to training, the transmission of knowledge, and sharing my passion for geography and geographic information.  In our school years, we all had that one teacher or professional who inspired us and sometimes even led us on a path to a career. In this sense, 'GIS ambassador' as a part of the K12 program provides us with an invaluable opportunity to share our passion and expertise with the primary and secondary students and hopefully motivate them to find their own spark.” - Clément

Since becoming a GIS Ambassador last year, Clément has worked with Catherine Troubat, a science and technology teacher at Lycée Claudel. This French private school in Ottawa is affiliated with the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE), a global network of over 500 schools with a focus on French language and culture. The schools are modelled after the French school system.

Clément introduced Catherine to GIS and she had the opportunity to try out ArcGIS Online using Esri Canada tutorials: ArcGIS Online 6x6 Tips & Tricks and Six by Six (FR) to get a better idea of how GIS can be used in her teaching and for student learning. This experience led to a plan to share Clément’s knowledge with her students.

Last November, beginning on Geography Awareness Week, Clément organized a four-part workshop for Catherine’s grade 10 classes with a focus on GIS applications in the real world and career exploration in this field. The goal was to show students what is possible with GIS. 60 students participated in weekly hour and a half workshops.

The four-part weekly workshops covered the following topics:

Week 1 – Introduction to GIS: projection systems, applications of spatial technologies (GIS and GPS, etc.).

Week 2 - Workshop to get acquainted with the GIS tools including ArcGIS Desktop.

Week 3 - Presentation of two GIS professionals in the field - Jonathan Leblanc and Clément Charré. They presented their work projects and what they do professionally using GIS, including associated skills and tasks as a cartographer, GIS technician and GIS project manager. Other topics included cartography and taking aerial images using remotely piloted aircrafts like drones.

Week 4 - Workshop on a carpooling project using analysis tool, including distance calculations and spatial analysis. The objective was to show how GIS is a tool used for a sustainable development themed project.

“This project with Mr. Charré gave my students a chance to discover new career domain and turn a course they often define as too abstract into something real. Meeting professionals is always a great opportunity and even more when those professionals are passionate about their work.” – Catherine Troubat

Clément’s workshops were so well received by both the students and teacher that he hopes to work with Catherine again later this year and possibly another teacher at the school. In addition, Clément is open to working with other francophone schools in the Ottawa and Gatineau area. If you are interested, contact us at k12@esri.ca and we would be happy to connect you with Clément.

Read more inspiring stories about GIS Ambassadors supporting students and teachers in their community. If you are a teacher, you can request to connect with a GIS Ambassador in your area.

This post was translated to French and can be viewed here.