The Taylor Geospatial Institute in St. Louis has appointed international geospatial leader Nadine Alameh as its first executive director.
Alameh arrives Sept. 1 to lead the consortium, led by St. Louis University. It includes personnel from eight colleges and research institutions in Missouri and Illinois and aims to expand geospatial research and create jobs.
The job offers an opportunity to push the region’s geospatial bonafides on an international level, she said.
“If we combine forces and partner with the smartest, most fast passionate people in geospatial, let's see how we can accelerate addressing climate change, addressing health, addressing food security, defense,” Alameh said. “It’s going to require something of the scale of the Taylor Geospatial Institute, and that to me is the goal.”
Alameh is president and CEO of the Open Geospatial Consortium, an international geospatial organization. She’s also a U.S. Department of Interior National Geospatial Advisory Committee member and a United Nations Geospatial Global Information Management Private Sector Network board member.
The institute has excelled in research and its collaborative efforts with research centers and universities, Alameh said. She hopes to attract more workers and build a geospatial ecosystem in St. Louis.
“Imagine if the Taylor Geospatial Institute and the ecosystem around it becomes like this incubator of everything,” Alameh said. “You can then see how entrepreneurs will start to pop up so it becomes the ecosystem of all geospatial because it just ignites that flame that has been missing for a long time.”
Founded in 2022, the Taylor Geospatial Institute received initial funding from Enterprise Holdings Executive Director Andrew Taylor. The consortium includes SLU, Washington University, Harris-Stowe State University, the University of Missouri-St. Louis and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. It also includes the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Missouri-Columbia and Missouri University of Science & Technology.
Alameh will succeed Vasit Sagan, who was named acting director of the Taylor Institute in April 2022.
During Sagan’s tenure, the institute secured $15 million in external grants and submitted over $200 million in grant proposals. He said Alameh’s previous experience will strengthen the institute.
“We are looking forward to see Taylor Geospatial Institute thrive under her leadership,” Sagan said. ”Myself and my team here will be supporting her to bring [the institute] to the next level.”
Sagan said one of his greatest accomplishments was building trust between organizations and faculty to build the collaborative. Alameh pledged to continue doing so and to bring in more voices, including nonprofits and other leaders.
“It's not one thing to make St. Louis the hub,” Alameh said. “That's why I think the Taylor Geospatial Institute is part of that whole ecosystem.”
