Past Board Members

Kathleen Brenkert

GIS Director
City of North Charleston
President 2021-2022
President-Elect 2020-2021 Past-President 2022-2023
Treasurer 2015-2020
Director-at-Large 2014-2015

Kat Brenkert graduated with a B.A. in Biology from Augustana College.  Kat first discovered GIS in 1994 as an intern studying wild dolphins on the Chesapeake Bay, mapping travel and habitat patterns.  It was as cool as it sounds, and Kat continued as a Wildlife Biologist for both Mote Marine Laboratory and then the US Fish and Wildlife Service at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  Her GIS career began to take off in 1998 when put in charge of mapping invasive plant species, wildlife habitats and patterns at the refuge.  In 2001 Kat accepted a job with the City of North Charleston as a GIS Analyst.  She has since been promoted to Senior Systems Analyst and has overseen every aspect of GIS development for the city.  Kat has served with South Carolina ARC (SCARC) User Group since 2004.  Kat was the SCARC Secretary from 2004 – 2012, SCARC President Elect from 2012-2013, SCARC President from 2013-2014 and SCARC Past-President from 2014-2015.  Kat’s interests include photography, surfing, graphic design and spending time with her husband and two children.

Robert Hawks

GIS Manager
City of Cayce
President 2022
President-Elect 2021-2022
Secretary 2019-2021

Bob Hawks graduated with a B.A. in Geography from the University of South Carolina and has a GIS Professional Certification (GISP). His first job in GIS was as an intern for the Central Midlands Council of Governments. He then moved on to work as a GIS Analyst for a healthcare institute affiliated with the University of South Carolina. More recently, Robert was promoted to GIS Manager for the City of Cayce, where he is currently heading up most of the city's efforts to expand its GIS presence and capability. Later on he made the move to the SC Ports Authority as GIS Manager. In his free time, Bob is an avid video gamer, and enjoys watching movies and playing games with his wife, Lynn, and their daughter, Marie.

Ryan Coleman

GIS Manager & DBA
Town of Bluffton President 2020-2021 President-Elect 2019-2020
Past-President 2021-2022
Director-at-Large 2014-2015 Webmaster 2015-2019

Ryan Coleman graduated with a B.A in Geography from the University of South Carolina and has a GIS Professional Certification (GISP). Ryan got started in 2005 with a GIS internship at the SC Department of Commerce's Insite Program after which he joined the City of Columbia as a GIS Analyst. While there in 2008 the City's GIS Division was honored with a Special Achievement in GIS Award from ESRI. After 3 years with the city he traveled to Hawaii, where he worked at Pearl Harbor mapping communications infrastructure as a GIS Analyst II. Missing the South, Ryan returned to SC and municipal government in 2010 at the Town of Bluffton where he is currently GIS Manager & DBA. While away from a computer, Ryan enjoys spending time with his son, reading, hiking and camping.

Connie Banegas

Director of Asset Management and GIS
Charleston Water System
President 2011-2012
President-Elect 2010-2011 Past President 2012-2013 Treasurer 2020-2022
Director-at-Large 2006-2010 (Secretary/Treasurer/Webmaster)

Connie Banegas, GISP, has 20+ years of experience in GIS, to include 15 years in Asset Management, and has dedicated 18 years of her career to the water and wastewater industry. She has worked in the areas of database and application design, development and management; data analysis; facility siting; asset management; strategic planning; and project management. Connie is the Director of Asset Management and GIS at Charleston Water System in Charleston, South Carolina, and a graduate of Appalachian State University. She sits on the board of the Carolina Urban and Regional Information Systems Association, and the South Carolina American Water Works Association and the Water Environment Association of South Carolina’s Joint Asset Management Committee. 

Alison Sengupta

Planning & GIS Manager
Lexington County
President 2019-2020
President-Elect 2017-2019 Past-President 2020-2021
Director-at-Large 2016-2017

Alison Sengupta started her career using GIS in the environmental field at The LPA Group (now Michael Baker International) serving as a GIS Analyst/Environmental Scientist. When the opportunity arose to join Lexington County Planning & GIS she jumped at the opportunity to focus solely on GIS. She has been with the County for about 15 years and has served as a GIS Analyst and more recently as the Planning & GIS Manager. She has a BS in Environmental Science from TCU (Go Frogs!) and a Master of Earth & Environmental Resources Management from USC (Go Gamecocks!). Alison is currently a co-chair of the Next Generation 911 GIS Subcommittee for South Carolina. Alison also has her GISP certification. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and is an avid sports fan, especially TCU football.

Daniel Morgan

Director
Beaufort County
President 2009-2010, 2017-2019
President-Elect 2008-2009, 2016-2017 Past-President 2010-2011, 2019-2020
Director-at-Large 2006-2008, 2015-2016

Dan Morgan has an illustrious history with GIS that began during his studies at Utah State University. He ran the GIS lab while studying for his Bachelor’s in Geography (achieved in 1993) and a Masters in Ag Systems Technology (1995). Before graduating with his Masters, he secured employment with the Lowcountry Council of Governments. But before his first year was finished, he had been recruited to take the position of GIS Director for Beaufort County. He has held this position since 1996. Not one to sit on his laurels, Dan has continued his training and received certificates in ERDAS remote sensing software and ArcSDE Administration for Oracle. His diligence paid off when, under Dan’s leadership, Beaufort County received a Special Achievement in GIS award at the 1999 ESRI Users Conference in San Diego, California. Dan has also worked with his staff to create a GIS website, providing access to Beaufort County GIS Data on the Web. A vital member of the GIS community for over ten years, Dan has held positions on the Information Resources Council and related committees, and was one of the first members of the SC Arc Users Group (SCARC).

Brenda Wheatley

GIS Coordinator
Charleston County
Director-at-Large 2016-2020

Brenda Wheatley did not start her career in GIS but in the field of IT.  Beginning work in the late-1970s, Brenda worked directly for a large computer firm supporting a customer base largely in South Carolina, conducting training sessions, computer analysis and computer migration.  As the computer industry tumbled in early 2000s, Brenda worked for a small vendor supporting solutions in the manufacturing industry, traveling nationwide supporting manufacturing applications and bar coding solutions.  Brenda became IT Director for a local manufacturing firm, then moved to the county to manage the migration of the mainframe Assessors system to a UNIX based system.  As this migration near completion, Brenda was asked to move over to GIS to handle the introduction of GIS at Charleston County.  From 1997 to present, Charleston County GIS has grown from a parcel based system tucked away in the Assessor’s office to supporting all departments in the county except payroll and HR.  Brenda has been a recipient of ESRI’s SAG Award in 2010 and SCARC GIS Achievement Award in 2013.  Outside of work, Brenda enjoys her family time, traveling and hiking. 

Robbie Ervin

GIS Database Administrator
Florence County
Secretary 2016-2018

Robbie graduated from Clemson in 1983 with a degree in Political Science and then in 1986 with a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning.  His biggest accomplishment in college was meeting Red Skelton. He worked with the Anderson County Planning and Economic Development Board from 1986 until 1992 where he worked in transportation planning and worked on special planning projects.  He got an introduction to GIS during this time when he started using MapInfo. After this, he moved back to Florence where he had grown up.  He worked with the City of Florence Planning Office, which later merged with the County in 1997 to become the County Planning and Building Department.  After the merger, the Planning Office dropped its Genamap license and began using ArcInfo. In 2007, GIS was split off from the Planning Department to become its own department.   Robbie was made GIS Database Administrator.  In that role, he has managed SDE and the SQL Server instance that it runs on, developed programs and websites using a wide variety of platforms and languages,  edited countless layers, and done whatever else Crys Hoge, his boss, told him to do.

Jacob Deuel

GIS Administrator          
Town of Hilton Head
President 2016-2017 Past-President 2017-2018
Director-at-Large 2013-2016

Jacob Deuel holds a B.S. degree in Geography from the University of South Carolina and is a Certified GIS Professional (GISP). He has 10 years of experience in the GIS field working mostly in the municipal government setting. He is currently employed with the Town of Hilton Head Island as the GIS Administrator. Other interests include strengthening his faith, spending time with his wife and two daughters, watching soccer, and cheering on the Gamecocks in football.

Cherie Moritz

GeoServices Manager
Aiken County
President 2015-2016
President-Elect 2014-2015 Past-President 2016-2017
Treasurer 2013-2015
Director-at-Large 2012-2017

Cherie began her GIS experience while in the third year of her B.S. in Molecular Genetics at Arizona State University pursuant to a midlife career change.  Her chance encounter with Arc/Info (command line!) led to an enduring love affair with all things spatial and necessitated an emergency re-work of academic plans and a switch to Plant Biology (Ecology, Landscape Ecology, etc. etc.) just so she could work this crazy, fun new tool into her life – gene mapping being entirely less fun.  During her Masters work at ASU, she was a Graduate Research Assistant in the GIS lab and after graduating in 1999, she became the GIS Manager for the statewide Colorado program of The Nature Conservancy.  After four all-consuming, exhilarating and exhausting years with TNC, it was on to a year abroad in New Zealand doing absolutely no work at all, followed by a few more years of early retirement loafing.  Finally, it was back to work for Tetra Tech NUS doing GIS for their nuclear licensing projects and then in 2008 moving to local government as a GIS Specialist for Aiken County.  Cherie is the Geoservices Manager for Aiken County.  Cherie is a certified GIS Professional (GISP).

Carmen Durham

GIS Technical Manager
City of Greenville
Director-at-Large 2010-2016

Carmen Durham's professional career did not start in the field of geography or GIS, but in the field of actuarial science!  If you haven't heard of it, don't worry, you are not alone.  Carmen's education began with an undergraduate and graduate degree in Mathematical Sciences from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC.  After working in pension planning and administration and studying for actuarial exams for four years, she realized she needed a career change.  Carmen went back to ASU to earn a graduate degree in Geography.  She has been working in the field of GIS ever since. Carmen began her GIS career with ESRI-Charlotte as an instructor in ARC/INFO (old command line days) and training coordinator.  Since moving to Greenville, SC, she has worked with the Appalachian Council of Governments, an environmental consulting firm, and with the City of Greenville.  She has been with the City of Greenville for 12 years and is a Certified GIS Professional (GISP). Other interested include volunteer mapping and trail work for Paris Mountain State Park and Dupont State Recreational Forest, assisting with adoptions for Lucky Labs, hiking and mountain biking.

Susan Overstreet, P.E.

Senior Engineer
Greenville Water
Secretary 2015-2016
Director-at-Large 2012-2014

Susan is a South Carolina Professional Engineer with additional credentials as an NCEES Structural Engineer and GISCI GIS Professional.  She has worked in the Greenville Water Engineering Department for the past five years and currently serves as Senior Engineer.  Professional interests include hydraulic modeling, mapping and computer programming.  She has also served as Chair and Vice-Chair of the SC American Water Works Association IT Committee.  She is a magna cum laude Civil Engineering graduate of Clemson University and former ESRI Developer.  Hobbies include choral music and watercolor painting.

Bryan Townsend

GIS Administrator
York County
President 2010-2011
President-Elect 2009-2010 Past-President 2011-2012
Director-at-Large 2008-2009 Webmaster 2008-2012

Bryan Townsend first learned of GIS while pursuing an undergraduate degree in geology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC).   He found GIS so interesting he completed the Urban and Regional Analysis graduate degree also at UNCC with a concentration in GIS studies.  During his time in the graduate program he gained further exposure to a variety of GIS uses through many internships with Mecklenburg County and UNCC. The IT Director at York County hired Bryan in 2001 to fulfill his vision to establish a successful enterprise wide GIS program with ties to the region, state and beyond.  After just a few years the county was rewarded with the SCARC Achievement in GIS Award in 2004 and the ESRI Special Achievement Award in 2005.   Bryan was also listed on the ESRI Special Achievement in GIS awarded to the North Carolina Geographic Information Council for his contributions to the NC OneMap (ncOneMap.com) in 2005.   Bryan has taught “Introduction to GIS” at Winthrop University since 2005 and works to provide GIS as a resource for professors and staff to use on campus.

Rich Hamilton

GIS Administrator
Town of Hilton Head
Treasurer 2010-2012 Director-at-Large 2008-2010

Rich Hamilton has been involved in geospatial related activities for the past 35 years.  He received his BA degree in Geography from Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont.  After moving to Hilton Head Island in 1973, he worked as a surveyor for 19 years, becoming a licensed Land Surveyor in 1983 and a Tier B Surveyor in 1992.  During this period he directed a wide variety of surveys in the Beaufort County area including hydrographic surveys, ground control for aerial photography, and establishing a network of beachfront vertical control monuments for the South Carolina Coastal Council. Rich became increasingly interested in emerging GIS technology and in 1992 made a career change by taking a job with the Town of Hilton Head Island maintaining the GIS address database.  He became the GIS Administrator in 1996 and has remained in that position to the present.  In addition to the continued development of the Town’s GIS resources, he coordinated the efforts that resulted in the Town becoming one of the first in SC to incorporate aerially scanned digital imagery in its GIS and the first SC entity to adopt the use of oblique photos in the workflow of the organization. Rich was licensed as a GIS Surveyor in 2005 and is a Certified GIS Professional.  He is also an active member of the SC Society of Professional Land Surveyors, the National Society of Professional Surveyors, the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association, and the Geographic and Land Information Society.

Bruce T. Harper

Technology Director
Colleton County
Director-at-Large 2009-2010

Bruce has been working with GIS over the last 12 years from both schooling and career perspectives.  His schooling started at the Community College of Southern Nevada where he earned two AAS degrees.  He continued his education at Indiana State University where he earned a BS in Geography and a MA in Geography, both emphasizing on GIS technologies, but focusing on Cartography and Remote Sensing.   Due to helping his wonderful wife raise four children, Bruce wasn’t able to gain experience from summer internships, but was able to gain experience with real world projects and is co-author in ‘Geospatial Technologies in Urban Environments’ and two scientific journals (Journal of Arboriculture, and Ecology & Society).  He took his first job out of school as a GIS Technician for Whiteside County in northwestern Illinois.  While learning the inner workings of County Government, which enabled him to become Colleton County GIS Manager in April 2007.  With both GIS and IT knowledge he was able to work with his boss and combine both the GIS and IT functions of the County, creating the Technology Department and become the Director as of January 1, 2008. Bruce is very active in his Church and works a great deal with the youth in his congregation.  He currently has the privilege of working with his wife as Cub Scout leaders while also working with his two sons.  Bruce has also taken community leadership classes to become more involved within the community.