Spatial Stack with Matt Forrest

Matt Forrest
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Welcome to The Spatial Stack, where modern geospatial technology takes center stage. Our episodes feature interviews with leading experts, insightful discussions on the integration of AI and big data in spatial tech, and case studies on groundbreaking projects worldwide. Tune in to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving world of geospatial technology!

  1. Rebuilding Climate Risk: SPHERE, DuckDB, and the Modern GIS Stack with Troy Schmidt

    2d ago

    Rebuilding Climate Risk: SPHERE, DuckDB, and the Modern GIS Stack with Troy Schmidt

    In this episode of the Spatial Stack, Matt sits down with Troy Schmidt, a 20-year GIS developer and the creator of SPHERE, an open-source Python package that runs FEMA's HAZUS flood risk methodology on GeoParquet and DuckDB. Troy dives into why depth damage functions are simpler than the engineering language suggests, and how the gap between the HAZUS methodology and the HAZUS software pushed him to build a Python-first alternative. He shares the moment he realized the data and the science were already public, and that the only thing missing was a modern stack to run it on. The conversation also covers the three types of flooding most people lump together (coastal, riverine, and pluvial), why pluvial risk is the gap that nobody insures, and what an open core model means for geospatial science. Finally, Troy walks through his cloud-native discovery process, from Wherobots and Earthmover webinars to DuckDB and vectorized math, and explains why turning legacy methodology into a Python package unlocks deployment patterns that were never possible before. 📊 FREE: The Modern GIS Skill Map The 5 skills that actually matter in modern GIS (and what you can stop learning). Based on a survey of 1,400+ geospatial professionals. ➡ Get the free training + PDF guide: https://forrest.nyc/go/training/ Connect with Troy Schmidt:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mr-troy-schmidt/SPHERE on GitHub: https://github.com/Niyam-Projects/sphere CHAPTERS:00:00:00 – Intro00:01:35 – Welcome and Troy's 20-Year GIS Journey00:04:17 – The Risk Modeling Landscape00:07:25 – Coastal, Riverine, and Pluvial Flooding00:11:05 – HAZUS Methodology vs. HAZUS Software00:16:05 – Site-Specific vs. Census Block Analysis00:18:05 – Building SPHERE: A Python Package for Risk00:21:25 – Cloud-Native, GeoParquet, and DuckDB00:25:05 – Why the Methodology Was Simple All Along00:27:05 – Discovery: Webinars, Wherobots, and the Modern Stack00:29:35 – Spatial as a Boundary Data Type00:32:35 – The Open Core Model and the Bridge to Modern GIS00:38:05 – Ensemble Models and What's Next for Climate Risk00:39:35 – Where to Find Troy and SPHERE 🚀 Join The Spatial Lab:Stop guessing at your career path. Get direct mentorship, advanced training, and a roadmap to these high-value roles inside The Spatial Lab.👉 https://forrest.nyc/spatial-lab/ 📰 Daily modern GIS insights: https://forrest.nyc CONNECT WITH ME📸 Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/matt_forrest/💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbforr/📧 Newsletter: https://forrest.nyc🌐 Website: https://forrest.nyc

    41 min
  2. From Geospatial Data Scientist to Full-Time Creator with Maggie Ma

    May 20

    From Geospatial Data Scientist to Full-Time Creator with Maggie Ma

    In this episode of the Spatial Stack, Matt sits down with Maggie Ma, tech content creator at @maggieindata and former geospatial data scientist. Maggie left her corporate data science role last year to become a full-time content creator across Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and TikTok. She's a 3x LinkedIn Learning instructor and an AI educator helping people break into data science, learn coding, and stay current with AI. We dig into the GIS title trap (and why the same job pays less under a different title), the seven internships that got Maggie into geospatial data science, cold-emailing professors and police departments, and how she positioned herself as the spatial person on non-spatial teams. We also cover the push and pull factors that led to her quitting corporate, what day in the life looks like as a full-time creator, and how she actually uses AI in her workflow today. Whether you're a GIS analyst wondering if you're underpaid, a geography student trying to land your first role, or a working data scientist thinking about going full-time creator, this conversation is full of specific tactics and honest reflections. Connect with Maggie: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maggieindataYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@maggieindataLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggieindataTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@maggieindata CHAPTERS: 00:00:00 – Intro00:01:08 – Welcome and Maggie's Background00:03:26 – Statistics, Psychology, and Discovering Human Geography00:06:39 – First Job: Geospatial Data Scientist in Logistics00:08:08 – The GIS Title Trap and Salary Bands00:11:33 – Cold Emailing Into Crime Analytics and Hospital Research00:14:16 – Starting to Create Content as a Working Data Scientist00:18:50 – Push and Pull Factors for Leaving Corporate00:21:28 – Adjusting to Life Without a Job as Input00:27:33 – Vibe Coding: Lovable, Warp, and Claude Code00:29:08 – The Hidden Risks of Vibe Coding (Security, Data Leaks)00:32:08 – Using AI in Content Workflows00:36:19 – Final Advice and Where to Find Maggie 📊 FREE: The Modern GIS Skill Map The 5 skills that actually matter in modern GIS (and what you can stop learning). Based on a survey of 1,400+ geospatial professionals. ➡ Get the free training + PDF guide: https://forrest.nyc/go/training/ CONNECT WITH ME 📸 Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/matt_forrest/💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbforr/📧 Newsletter: https://forrest.nyc🌐 Website: https://forrest.nyc

    38 min
  3. Chatting with the Physical World: Google's Yael Maguire on AI, Maps, and 280 Billion Images

    Apr 22

    Chatting with the Physical World: Google's Yael Maguire on AI, Maps, and 280 Billion Images

    What happens when you give an AI the ability to see and understand the physical world? In this episode, Matt Forrest sits down with Yael Maguire, GM and VP of Google Maps Platform and Google Earth, to unpack the massive platform shift happening at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and geospatial technology. Yael pulls back the curtain on how Google is transforming its massive corpus of 280 billion Street View, aerial, and satellite images into a searchable, interactive database. Discover how developers, urban planners, and creatives can now ask quantitative questions about physical infrastructure, monitor disaster response in real-time, and even generate hyper-realistic, location-grounded videos using tools like Nano Banana and Veo. Whether you're building digital twins, tracking climate impact, or revolutionizing the advertising and film industries, this conversation reveals the exact tools Google is rolling out to help you build the future. In this episode, we cover: - How "Ask Maps" is changing consumer and enterprise search.- Using AI to instantly audit city infrastructure like power lines, hydrants, and potholes.- Grounding generative AI models (Nano Banana and Veo) in actual Street View imagery.- Google’s partnerships for real-time disaster response using satellite AI.- The launch of Google Earth AI and what it means for developers. LEARN MORE Full Announcement: https://mapsplatform.google.com/resources/blog/three-new-ways-to-build-with-real-world-imageryMore Google Next Announcements: https://mapsplatform.google.com/resources 00:00 - Intro01:20 - Meet Yael Maguire & Google Maps Platform03:18 - The AI Platform Shift: Unpacking the New "Ask Maps"08:48 - Street View Insights: Querying 280 Billion Images with AI11:12 - Real-World Use Cases: Digital Twins & City Infrastructure14:04 - The Sky-Down View: Satellite AI & Disaster Response16:33 - Scaling Solar APIs & The Importance of Temporal Data18:58 - Unifying Street View, Aerial, and Satellite Data in BigQuery21:49 - Generative AI Meets Reality: Grounding Models in the Physical World26:19 - Democratizing Creativity: The Future of Film & Simulation30:35 - What’s Next: How Developers Can Start Using These Tools Today33:33 - The Vision for Google Earth AI: Merging Weather, Energy, and Ag Models36:11 - Outro: The Future is Spatial --- 🚀 Join The Spatial Lab:Stop guessing at your career path. Get direct mentorship, advanced training, and a roadmap to these high-value roles inside The Spatial Lab.👉 https://forrest.nyc/spatial-lab/ 📰 Daily modern GIS insights: https://forrest.nyc CONNECT WITH ME📸 Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/matt_forrest/💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbforr/📧 Newsletter: https://forrest.nyc🌐 Website: https://forrest.nyc

    38 min
  4. Beyond the CSV: Visualizing POI Data for Global Expansion Strategy with Emily Lisle from Dataplor

    Apr 20

    Beyond the CSV: Visualizing POI Data for Global Expansion Strategy with Emily Lisle from Dataplor

    The future is spatial, but how do we actually make sense of the data? In this episode, we sit down with Emily Lisle from Dataplor to discuss the current state of location intelligence and how to overcome the biggest location intelligence challenges facing businesses today. We dive into the data foundation, exploring the massive complexities of scaling geospatial data, consumer data, and POI data on a global level. Emily breaks down the gap between simply having access to millions of rows of location intelligence data and actually turning it into actionable business strategies. To solve this, Dataplor launched a new location intelligence platform. By making it easy to visualize location data, non-technical teams can finally execute complex spatial analysis in gis without waiting on a data scientist. We also explore powerful location intelligence use cases and location intelligence applications. Learn how real estate investors and CPG brands are using this data to fuel their global expansion strategy and retail expansion strategy by identifying market gaps and tracking competitors. Finally, Emily shares how AI location data integration and AI analysis location data are changing the game, and why establishing a verified "ground truth" is more important than ever. LEARN MORE ABOUT DATAPLOR Learn More: https://www.dataplor.com/solutions/global-platform/Follow Dataplor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dataplor/Book a Demo: https://www.dataplor.com/contact/ Key Takeaways - The End of the CSV: How the industry is moving from massive, hard-to-process spreadsheets to visual spatial analysis software that answers specific business questions instantly. - Finding "Ground Truth": Why relying on a single mobility signal isn't enough anymore, and how layering alternative consumer data ensures high-quality insights. - Winning Global Expansion Strategy: Real-world examples of how CPG brands and real estate investors use location intelligence platforms to spot market gaps and track global competitors. - The AI Data Revolution: How AI location intelligence and the Model Context Protocol (MCP) are transforming how we consume and personalize geospatial data 00:00 Introduction to the State of Location Intelligence & Its Challenges 03:14 The Foundation: Scaling Geospatial Data & POI Data Globally 06:48 Bridging the Gap: Location Intelligence Solutions & Analytics 09:06 Overcoming Location Intelligence Data Privacy Roadblocks 14:50 Building a Location Intelligence Platform to Visualize Location Data22:42 Location Intelligence Use Cases: Global Retail Expansion Strategy28:44 Validation in Spatial Analysis Software: Finding the "Ground Truth"34:37 The Future: AI Location Intelligence & Model Context Protocol (MCP) 41:42 How to Connect with Dataplor --- 📰 Daily modern GIS insights: https://forrest.nyc CONNECT WITH ME📸 Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/matt_forrest/💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbforr/📧 Newsletter: https://forrest.nyc🌐 Website: https://forrest.nyc

    43 min
  5. AI Is Reshaping GIS Careers (Here's How to Stay Ahead)

    Apr 3

    AI Is Reshaping GIS Careers (Here's How to Stay Ahead)

    A viral LinkedIn post called "Something Big Is Happening" by Matt Schumer has been making the rounds and for good reason. In this episode, I break down why the pace of AI development should have every GIS professional paying attention, what I'm seeing in the geospatial space right now (from Claude Code in ArcGIS to AI-specific job postings), and the four things you should be doing right now to future-proof your career. Whether you're mid-career or fresh out of school, this one's for you. Original Article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/something-big-happening-matt-shumer-so5he 00:00 — The Article That Went Viral00:40 — AI Coding Tools Are Changing Everything01:51 — What I'm Seeing in Geospatial Right Now02:30 — Step 1: Understand the Landscape02:49 — Step 2: Start Learning the Tools03:18 — Step 3: Architect Projects, Don't Just Prompt04:09 — Step 4: Broaden Your Skill Set04:43 — Advice for Recent Grads and Early-Career Pros05:51 — Will AI Actually Wipe Out GIS Jobs?06:42 — Wrap Up --- 📊 FREE: The Modern GIS Skill MapThe 5 skills that actually matter in modern GIS (and what you can stop learning). Based on a survey of 1,400+ geospatial professionals.➡ Get the free training + PDF guide: https://forrest.nyc/go/training/ 📰 Daily modern GIS insights: https://forrest.nyc CONNECT WITH ME📸 Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/matt_forrest/💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbforr/📧 Newsletter: https://forrest.nyc🌐 Website: https://forrest.nyc

    7 min
  6. Desktop GIS is Dying. Here’s What Replaced It.

    Mar 20 ·  Bonus

    Desktop GIS is Dying. Here’s What Replaced It.

    If you are still trying to run your entire geospatial workflow on a local desktop, you are fighting a losing battle. The "Modern GIS Stack" looks chaotic at first glance with dozens of logos, cloud formats, and new databases. But once you strip away the noise, there are actually only a few key layers you need to master to make it all work. 🚀 Don't navigate this shift alone. Join the Spatial Lab: https://forrest.nyc/spatial-lab/ In this video, I break down the architecture that is replacing the traditional GIS model. We move beyond Shapefiles and Geodatabases into the world of Cloud-Native Geospatial, showing you exactly how Storage, Compute, and Analytics have separated—and how you can use them to scale your career. 📰 Daily modern GIS insights: https://forrest.nyc 00:00 - The Modern GIS Chaos 00:34 - The Shift to Cloud-Native Formats 01:14 - Why Storage Buckets Replaced Hard Drives 02:07 - Essential Formats: GeoParquet, COGs & Zarr 03:57 - Adding Intelligence: STAC & Iceberg Catalogs 06:07 - Transformation & Orchestration (GDAL, dbt, Airflow) 08:30 - The 3 Engines of Modern GIS 08:48 - Engine 1: The Processing Layer (Sedona, Wherobots) 11:19 - Engine 2: The Transactional Layer (PostGIS) 12:38 - Engine 3: The Analytical Layer (BigQuery, Snowflake, DuckDB) 14:54 - Mapping Modern Layers to Traditional GIS 16:29 - The Application Layer: Analytics & BI 17:35 - Connecting QGIS & Python to the Cloud 18:30 - Modern Web Maps (Felt, Mapbox, DeckGL) 20:24 - Conclusion: You Don't Need to Learn Everything CONNECT WITH ME📸 Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/matt_forrest/💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbforr/📧 Newsletter: https://forrest.nyc🌐 Website: https://forrest.nyc

    21 min
  7. The Next GPS? Why GeoAI is the New Invisible Infrastructure with Pierrick Poulenas (Picterra)

    Mar 18

    The Next GPS? Why GeoAI is the New Invisible Infrastructure with Pierrick Poulenas (Picterra)

    Have you ever stopped to think about how GPS completely changed the world simply by becoming an invisible infrastructure running in the background of our everyday apps? According to Pierrick Poulenas, the CEO and co-founder of Picterra, the exact same pattern is playing out right now with Earth Observation and GeoAI.In this episode, we sit down with Pierrick to explore how GeoAI is bridging the gap between raw satellite imagery and accessible business intelligence. We dive into how Picterra is removing the friction of complex remote sensing data, allowing non-technical users to train machine learning models and turn planetary pixels into actionable insights. We also discuss the massive real-world impact this has on global supply chains and monitoring regenerative agriculture at scale. Plus, Pierrick shares his vision for a collaborative future in the space industry and teases an exciting new free tool for sustainability innovation. Connect with Pierrick and Picterra: https://picterra.ai/https://www.linkedin.com/company/picterra/ Key Takeaways: - Why Earth Observation is following the "GPS Playbook" to reach mass adoption.- The shift from just collecting raw satellite data to creating usable applications at scale.- How human-in-the-loop design builds trust and accuracy in AI models.- Real-world use cases in spatial finance, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), and regenerative agriculture. --- 🚀 Join The Spatial Lab:Stop guessing at your career path. Get direct mentorship, advanced training, and a roadmap to these high-value roles inside The Spatial Lab.👉 https://forrest.nyc/spatial-lab/ 📰 Daily modern GIS insights: https://forrest.nyc CONNECT WITH ME📸 Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/matt_forrest/🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mbforrgis💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbforr/📧 Newsletter: https://forrest.nyc🌐 Website: https://forrest.nyc

    33 min
  8. Mastering Spatial Data in R: TidyCensus, PMTiles, & AI with Kyle Walker

    Feb 17

    Mastering Spatial Data in R: TidyCensus, PMTiles, & AI with Kyle Walker

    In this episode of the Spatial Stack, Matt sits down with Kyle Walker, Professor of Geography at TCU and the creator of popular R packages like tigris and tidycensus. Kyle dives into why he views US Census data as critical infrastructure and how open data is fundamentally transforming decision-making across industries like real estate and energy. He shares the origin story of his open-source work, explaining why he champions the R programming language for full-stack geospatial analysis. The conversation also covers the evolution of web mapping, from the laborious process of rendering dot-density maps to the blazing-fast performance of modern tools like PMTiles. Finally, Kyle reveals how generative AI specifically Claude Code and the Zed editor is serving as his ultimate coding assistant, allowing him to rapidly build complex projects like the mapgl package and turn his ideas into reality faster than ever. Connect with Kyle: X/Twitter: https://x.com/kyle_e_walkerLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walkerke/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/kylewalker.bsky.social 00:01:00 – Welcome and Kyle Walker’s Background at TCU 00:06:18 – Why US Open Data is Critical Infrastructure 00:09:20 – Demystifying Census Data with tigris and tidycensus 00:15:48 – Applied Spatial Data: Real Estate and Forecasting Models 00:18:28 – The Evolution of High-Resolution Dot Density Maps 00:23:48 – The Human Element: How People React to Seeing Data Maps 00:29:14 – R vs. Python: Why R is a Geospatial Powerhouse 00:37:44 – Accelerating Development: Using Claude and AI for Coding 00:43:40 – The Future of Mapping: PMTiles, Segment Anything, and LLMs 00:48:18 – Where to Find Kyle’s Book, Tools, and Workshops --- 🚀 Join The Spatial Lab:Stop guessing at your career path. Get direct mentorship, advanced training, and a roadmap to these high-value roles inside The Spatial Lab.👉 https://forrest.nyc/spatial-lab/ 📰 Daily modern GIS insights: https://forrest.nyc CONNECT WITH ME📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matt_forrest/💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbforr/📧 Newsletter: https://forrest.nyc🌐 Website: https://forrest.nyc

    51 min
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5
out of 5
4 Ratings

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Welcome to The Spatial Stack, where modern geospatial technology takes center stage. Our episodes feature interviews with leading experts, insightful discussions on the integration of AI and big data in spatial tech, and case studies on groundbreaking projects worldwide. Tune in to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving world of geospatial technology!

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