As GIS and Mapping Officer, Tom is responsible for maintaining and managing the SAC Geographic Information System utilizing key survey technologies, notably the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA), and all contained map datasets for SAC program countries. In addition, he carries out training as required in the background, methods and tools of the surveys for implementers and local nationals working on the surveys.

Tom has been working with Geographic Information Systems for over 15 years, though his analytical skills extend far beyond GIS and GPS to include tasks and problems pertaining to relief and development work that he has performed in Africa and Eastern Europe. Some of these projects have included developmental agriculture in Egypt, census geography in Eritrea – where Tom was instrumental in developing a GPS-based mapping program to support what will be the country’s first census after 30 years of war, environmental mapping in the Ukraine and humanitarian assistance mapping in Sierra Leone. He has excellent quality management skills, as displayed when he administered the census boundary quality control for the 1991 Canadian Census and facilitated all aspects of quality control for the geographic base used for the 2001 Canadian Census. Lastly, Tom was a sessional lecturer on “Spatial Information Systems and Computer Cartography” for Carleton University from 1988 until 1993, and has delivered and prepared a variety of GIS training modules for the governments of Canada, Egypt, Ukraine, Eritrea and for CARE International in Sierra Leone.

Tom received a B.Sc. and M.A. in Geography from Carleton University in Ontario, Canada, and a B.F.A. in Photography from Concordia University in Québec, Canada. He speaks English and French, and is a citizen of Canada and the U.K.