Ess Nelson
GIS Developer Administrator (1043 Senior IS Engineer)
San Francisco, California, United States
Summary
👤
Senior🎓
Top SchoolEss Nelson is a GIS developer and senior IS engineer with 18 years of transportation data analytics and GIS solution engineering experience, currently leading GIS infrastructure, system integration, and web mapping at SFMTA in San Francisco. He designs and deploys complex, production-grade spatial systems—using ArcGIS JSAPI, Python, GeoEvent Server, FME and custom geoprocessing—to support equity-driven transit planning, curb management, and public-facing project maps that have been spotlighted by Harvard Data Smart City Solutions. A proven program builder, he’s stood up data strategy teams, authored technical scopes for Smart City grants, and led award-winning agency GIS coordination efforts that consolidated 60k+ spatial files and trained geodata custodians. Beyond technical chops, Ess brings a polymath’s creativity—he’s an educator, musician, writer, and Clinton Innovation Award–winning community organizer—so he blends civic empathy and storytelling with rigorous analytics to make data actionable for planners, elected officials, and the public.
14 years of coding experience
7 years of employment as a software developer
MA, Government/Political Science -- Community Organizing & Women Studies, MA, Government/Political Science -- Community Organizing & Women Studies at Lehigh UniversityCertificate, SQL/PLSQL, Certificate, SQL/PLSQL at Oracle UniversityProcessing, interactive installation art, data visualization, physical computing, Processing, interactive installation art, data visualization, physical computing at Gray Area Foundation for the Arts -- Creative Code ImmersiveJavascript, jQuery, Python, Javascript, jQuery, Python at CodecademyMaster of City and Regional Planning, GIS, Transportation and Urban Design, Master of City and Regional Planning, GIS, Transportation and Urban Design at University of PennsylvaniaPinckney High School
javascript, python incl. arcpy, sql, plsql, html/css, jquery, node.js libraries, processing.js and p5.js, arcgis web app builder for devGithub contributions (2)
SFpark/SFpark-for-iPhone
Sep 2011 - Nov 2013
Contributions:3 commits in 2 years 1 month
SFpark/SFpark-for-Android
Nov 2013 - Jan 2014
Contributions:3 commits in 2 months
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