James Spooner

About Me

My path into GIS wasn't entirely linear. I first came across GIS during my studies at Brighton University, though at the time it never occurred to me that it could actually be a career — it was just a module, not a plan. After graduating, I spent my early twenties bouncing around various roles, trying to unearth a career that suited me, without much luck. It was actually COVID that gave me the pause I needed to properly reconsider what I wanted to do — and somewhere in that reconsideration, GIS resurfaced, this time as a genuine career path rather than just something I'd studied. I took myself to South Africa to complete an internship alongside an Anti-Poaching Unit, and that's really where everything changed.

Living alongside the rangers, waking before dawn to head out into the bush, I found a rhythm and a sense of purpose I hadn't really felt before. It taught me how much I value being useful in a tangible way — not just doing a job, but actually seeing the difference it makes on the ground.

Outside of work, I'm pretty much always trying to be outdoors or moving. I love hiking and bouldering, and you'll usually find me at the gym a few times a week too — I like having something physical to balance out the hours spent staring at a screen mapping things. Travelling is a big one for me as well; I'll take any excuse to go and explore somewhere new, which honestly ties in quite nicely with my love of maps and landscapes in the first place. There's something satisfying about seeing a place with your own eyes after spending so much time looking at it from above.

When I'm not out climbing or halfway up a hill somewhere, I'm happiest spending time with friends and family. That's the stuff that keeps me grounded, especially after a period like my early twenties where I felt a bit lost and unsure of what I was doing with my life. I've come to appreciate that having good people around you matters just as much as figuring out your career does — probably more, if I'm honest.

Looking back, I don't think my path needed to be linear to get me somewhere good. If anything, the detours — the false starts, the pandemic pause, the leap of faith to South Africa — are exactly what shaped who I am today, both in and out of work.

Where I've Worked

Before GIS properly found me, I spent a few years in that classic early-twenties limbo — trying on different jobs to see what fit. I worked in market research for MBI, first with The Knowledge/KFTV and later ALF Insight, keeping databases clean and current. I spent time as a Community Associate at IWG, juggling client records and daily operations, and later as an Admissions Officer at London South Bank University, managing applicant data through to decision. None of it was GIS, but there was a common thread running through it all — I was always the one managing the data, spotting the patterns, tidying up the mess. I just hadn't connected the dots yet.

That changed with a GIS Internship at Wildlife & Ecological Investments, based in South Africa alongside the Anti-Poaching Unit — my first real chance to apply GIS to conservation properly, using analytical tools to spot patterns in habitat and species data and map activity hotspots. It confirmed what I already suspected: this was the thing.

From there I moved into a GIS Technician role at Cyient, working on subsidy distribution — mapping and maintaining land parcel data and classifying habitat information to determine eligibility. Detailed, process-heavy work that sharpened my technical foundations.

I then spent over two years as a GIS Analyst at Ringway, generating spatial reports from increasingly complex datasets and getting properly comfortable with Excel — pivot tables, KPI tracking, automating tasks that used to be manual slog. I worked closely with contractors and engineering teams, consistently hit a 95% efficiency KPI, and helped claw back around 80% of a long-standing backlog. It's where I really learned how to make GIS operational, not just analytical.

Since January 2025, I've been a GIS Specialist at Tapestry Research Group, doing the kind of end-to-end GIS work I always wanted to build toward — designing full GIS and asset management systems (PostgreSQL/PostGIS, ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, Field Maps, Survey123), building field-to-dashboard workflows, automating spatial data with Python/ArcPy, and running LiDAR analysis for organisations that serve First Nations communities. It's the most fulfilling GIS work I've done — and it still doesn't feel like the "career" I once went looking for. It just feels like the thing I do now.

My Work

A selection of GIS projects I've worked on — click any thumbnail to view more detail.

Volunteering

Volunteered for 6 weeks as a Co-ordinator at Parque Machía in Bolivia, a stint nestled into a 4-month solo trip around South America, helping manage the day-to-day running of the sanctuary while supporting the care of rescued wildlife. I worked with an international team to organise daily tasks, oversee volunteers, maintain animal enclosures, and contribute to the rehabilitation and long-term welfare of the animals in a pretty hands-on, challenging environment — and came away with a serious soft spot for one resident in particular, Christina the Coati, whose personality made even the toughest days there worth it.