We welcome everyone back from a beautiful summer to kick off Season 8 with Julia O'Brien, the "grandmother" of geographic information systems (GIS). O'Brien was the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region II Special Geospacial Coordinator before her retirement in 2023. She worked in remote sensing and GIS for over 30 years. Before that she was the Senior Project Manager for a New York City project to complete an accurate GIS dataset for NYC, culminating in the Citywide Street Centerlines (CSCL) database.

O'Brien walks us through the importance of GIS in disaster management and how it allows leaders to understand what infrastructure may be in the path of storms or flooding in order to prepare adequately for natural disasters. She discusses the role that FEMA plays to support states and localities during manmade and natural disasters. We delve into how proposed cuts to federal funding will affect institutional knowledge that is critical for disaster relief during this time of increased frequency and severity of disasters due to climate change. O'Brien highlights the importance of diversity in planning for disaster response needs. Finally, she discusses the importance of aid services provided by agencies like FEMA and USAID, noting that when a government does not meet the needs of the people, it will not be supported.