Leaders See Geospatial Science as Key to Future of St. Louis

Leaders See Geospatial Science as Key to Future of St. Louis

Saint Louis University President Edward Feser, Ph.D., hopes the future of geospatial science involves SLU graduates.

Feser shared his thoughts on the future of geospatial science and what it means for the city of St. Louis as part of the Leader's Look panel discussion at the 2026 Geo-Resolution conference. Members of the geospatial community and the SLU community gathered in the Busch Student Center on Thursday, Sept. 10, to take part in Geo-Resolution 2026.

The event, designed to provide participants access to geospatial experts from government, academia, innovation hubs, startup companies, and nonprofit organizations, kicked off with Feser, St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer and Greater St. Louis Inc. CEO Ron Kitchens talking about the current and future impact of geospatial science.

Feser said SLU has heavily invested in geospatial science because it "fits our mission really well."

"What we try to think about in our research enterprise is building strengths in core areas where we can drive interdisciplinary work on the frontier that will be of service to the common good," Feser said. "Imagine, as a Jesuit school, what are we interested in doing? It's work that's fearless, it's work that is on the frontier and work that is relentlessly focused on the common good. And all of those things you can find in geospatial science."

Feser and Kitchens both discussed the potential for St. Louis to become a geospatial hub. Kitchens, citing research from SLU Professor Ness Sandoval, Ph.D., associate director of SLU's Geospatial Center, noted that demographic data isn't in the city's favor. He said making St. Louis a place for geospatial companies - a place where businesses relocate - can help address those issues.

"What we need to do is be a blend of northern Virginia and Silicon Valley with Midwest values," Kitchens said. "We can bring costs down, we can bring opportunities to the table, and we can do that at a speed that no one else can do it at. If we do that, we gain a strategic advantage for a generation."

Feser noted that 50% of SLU graduates would like to stay in the city after graduation but need jobs and opportunities. He said the whole community needs to collaborate, and geospatial science can be a big piece of the puzzle.

"If you can create an environment like that and our graduates can go out in the world trained to contribute to it, then they'll see further growth and development in St. Louis," he said.

Spencer noted that the city itself is embracing geospatial science. Following the May 2025 tornadoes, the city used geospatial science to identify problem areas and is looking to implement the work more broadly across the city. With that comes a need for people trained in the science to work for the city.

Feser said for SLU, the goal is to produce graduates who can tackle the issues currently facing the country.

"The sky is the limit in what can be done," he said.

Geo-Resolution started at SLU in 2019. The conference encourages collaboration between government, academia, and industry partners to foster geospatial technology innovation and applications, connect geospatial experts and students, and grow the geospatial ecosystem in the greater St. Louis region.

In addition to the kickoff Leader's Look panel, the conference featured speakers from government, industry and academia. The keynote address was delivered by Douglas Cossa, the intelligence community chief of information officer and the primary information technology advisor to the Director of National Intelligence.

The event also featured a special Industry Insights panel with Jim Kavanaugh, CEO of World Wide Technology.

Additionally, a big part of the event is connecting current experts with students. There was a student mentoring lunch, a poster session, a student geospatial career fair and networking opportunities.