Miriam Olivares, head of Geospatial Support Services at the Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions and the Yale Library, received the 2025 Linda Lorimer Award for Distinguished Service, an award that celebrates innovation, collaboration, leadership, and excellence. Olivares embodies these qualities daily when she consults with and provides support services for hundreds of students, faculty, and researchers. She recently sat down with the Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions for a wide-ranging conversation about her impressive career, the current GIS landscape, and the field’s future.
Geo-Empowering Yale: A Conversation with Miriam Olivares
Miriam Olivares with President McInnis and Linda Lorimer (Photo: It’s Your Yale / Yale University )
Q: You’ve spent more than two decades working at the intersection of GIS, higher education, and research support. What initially drew you to geospatial work, and how has your understanding of that work evolved?
I actually didn’t have GIS on my radar at all. I was at Texas A&M University as an international student, and I needed a job. It just happened. My first exposure to GIS was during a study abroad experience in Australia. I was impressed by the maps I was seeing. At that time, the environmental firm I was interning with was conducting geospatial work on mangroves while consulting for an airport authority on plans for an additional runway. They were talking about many things that were new to me—historical mangrove data, crown land ownership, and all of that. It sounded complex, but it got my attention.
By a lucky coincidence, when I returned to the US, I really needed a job. A friend who had graduated stopped by to say goodbye and give me her cleaning supplies, and she randomly asked, “Would you like to take my GIS job?” When I told her I didn’t know GIS, she encouraged me, assuring me that my undergrad in architecture and my CAD experience would help, “If you know CAD, you’ll do well because this project needs CAD skills.” I interviewed and got the job. That’s how I got into the GIS world. I am so grateful I was receptive and open to the challenge, because it opened a whole new world for me.
When I discovered the power of GIS, it really got my full attention. I started taking courses, and for my capstone, I wanted to do real-world work. I partnered with a classmate to help the city develop an application. It was somewhat controversial at that time—a sex offender mapping application. What we discovered was that the database we had to use was incomplete and outdated. If they wanted a good application, they needed to work with different departments to bring the data up to date.
Everyone—the law enforcement teams, residents, and the people involved in helping sex offenders reintegrate into their communities—needed accurate information. The project became award-winning, and I learned that GIS could be used not only for that topic, but for many others.
From there, I started paying attention to applications in other fields, and that’s when it really blew my mind. I decided to stay in this field. I was studying land development and wanted to make a lot of money, but GIS got my heart. I decided to stay in academia instead of going into a very profitable career in land development, which I started doubting because the work I was exposed to often pushed communities away to build upscale housing developments or shopping malls. GIS is amazing for helping communities.
In academia, the work has evolved as much as the technology itself. I started using GIS more than 20 years ago, and it transforms every three or four years.
Miriam introduces Yale’s geospatial services at the Yale Planet Data Kick-Off. (Photo: Andrew Gillreath-Brown)
Q: What did it mean to you to receive the Linda Lorimer Award for Distinguished Service, especially knowing it comes from peer nominations?
It was a complete surprise. I had no idea about the nomination. Nobody had told me. When I was informed by email, I remember I was walking and had to stop for a second. I also thought it was a group award. When I learned it was individual, it took me a minute to accept the idea—not because I don’t think I deserve it, but because there are so many people and peers who could receive the award.
After I processed it, I thought about how meaningful it is that someone takes the time to recognize your work. I was aware of the Lorimer Award because at one point I wanted to nominate a colleague. It didn’t go through because of timing, but every year I would read the stories of the recipients—not because I expected to receive it, but because those individuals were really making a difference.
It feels funny to now be one of the awardees, but I was very honored. I even asked my son to come join me for the ceremony with his fiancée. It was a very special ceremony. Everyone in the room had something to celebrate, and Mrs. Lorimer was there. Meeting her was amazing.
Q: When President McInnis presented the award, what moments or projects from your career came to mind?
No specific project came to mind. I thought of the hundreds of students and faculty who have trusted my expertise—who have come to talk, to bounce ideas, and to integrate geospatial technology into their projects. I truly believe that bringing GIS into research and learning transforms everything you do. That’s why I love my job.
I meet people every week who are doing amazing work. I’m also always amazed by how my mentors and peers have helped me learn—not just about GIS, but about how to conduct myself in an academic setting in the U.S. I was an international student, and when I came to Texas I felt lost. When I came to Yale, I felt lost again—moving from the South and a state university to an Ivy League institution in the Northeast. My mentors and peers have been incredible. All of that came to mind.
Q: What kinds of collaborations have been most transformative in your work?
Miriam leads the first Geospatial Community of Practice session. (Photo: Magalí Bazzano)
Working at Yale Library has been very transformative. I didn’t realize how much care and professionalism everyone brings to their work. The level of perfectionism among my colleagues is impressive, and that’s why the library runs so smoothly.
One important experience was participating in the process that led to the creation of the Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions. I was honored to be invited to serve on the Provost’s faculty advisory group. My institutional knowledge allowed me to provide helpful insights that supported data-driven decisions about what the center should be and what it would need.
Beyond that, many projects involve supporting faculty and students. On my LinkedIn, I describe my role as “GeoEmpowering bright minds in higher education,” and I truly believe that. Sometimes students come in with projects that help refugees or even save lives. These days, I have a slide deck with about 15 projects I showcase, but I could easily add 50 more that I’m proud to have supported. I can’t name one specific project—so much of the work happening at Yale feels important, and I’m glad GIS is becoming a common component of that work.
Q: How does receiving this award shape the way you think about the next phase of your career?
I don’t think it shapes the next phase of my career, but it does make you stop for a minute and recognize that your work is valuable—because your peers are saying so. It’s also a reminder that the work is important, no matter how difficult or busy the days become.
What it has changed is my commitment to being more intentional about nominating others, in the same way my peers nominated me. I’ve done that in the past, but I want to make it more a priority. After winning the Lorimer award, I proposed the idea and am collaborating with a working group to develop an award nomination program, including compiling an award database and organizing nomination-writing sprints to encourage peer nominations.
Q: You often describe your role as “geo-empowering” others. What does that mean to you in practice?
Our role as geospatial consultants is to remove roadblocks so people can do their best work. GIS allows researchers to conduct more meaningful and revealing analysis. Without geospatial technology, their work might still be strong, but it may not be as comprehensive because it doesn’t account for spatial connections between different factors—especially those that impact communities.
Geo-empowering means giving researchers, scholars, and students the power to see those connections. It’s like giving them a more revealing lens—almost like a microscope.
Q: What excites you most about the future of geospatial technology in education and research?
Miriam leads the second Geospatial Community of Practice session. (Photo: Andrew Gillreath-Brown)
We talk a lot about GeoAI these days—artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning. I’m excited about AI, but I’m also excited about keeping the fundamental concepts of GIS. I want students and faculty to remember that even as they move into AI, they need to anchor their work in foundational GIS concepts so they can verify and validate their findings.
What excites me is the combination of deep foundational knowledge with new AI capabilities.
Q: What advice would you give to staff members who want to make meaningful, lasting impacts at their institutions?
I often think about the mission of Yale—where we want to go and what we’re trying to achieve. When there are factors that slow progress, I try to focus on the final goal while being respectful of external forces.
My advice is to trust your instincts when something feels important. Advocate for it and keep going. I have a rule: if someone takes your idea, that’s actually great, because they’ll develop it and you can move on to the next one. Don’t get stuck in day-to-day work. Make sure what you’re doing is meaningful.