BCC Geospatial Center of the CUNY CREST Institute
Built from the Ground Up since 2014
Certified by the CUNY Board of Trustees
Empowering Students from Underrepresented Groups
Bronx Community College serves students who are often the first in their families to enter technical careers. At the BCC Geospatial Center of the CUNY CREST Institute, students with no prior experience gain geospatial analytical skills, mentorship and research experience that open doors to industry, government and graduate study. The Center is an example of upward social mobility in action.
How we make it happen
Recruit: actively recruit a diverse group of candidates, including women and students from underrepresented groups
Orient: give each person specific responsibilities: administrative, analytical and project management
Mentor: train every participant through a proactive mentoring process
No one left behind: make sure everyone succeeds, so no one is left in the trenches
Jennifer Leon: from zero GIS experience to Snowflake
In 2019, Jennifer Leon, a BCC-CUNY student, completed a 10-week research internship at BGCCCI under the mentorship of Dr. Harini Mittal. She had no experience in GIS beforehand. During the program she researched and collected data to create 11 spatial maps for her project, “Economic Variables Identified through Satellite Imagery Used to Assess and Analyze Their Weight on Income Inequality Throughout Generations Across the United States.” She went on to a B.S. in Leadership and Management Studies at New York University and a Sales Enablement internship at Snowflake.
“The internship taught me a lot about my potential and gave me the confidence to work with stakeholders and communicate efficiently. The knowledge and skills I gained has helped me in my career choices. I encourage students to intern at the Geospatial Center and immerse in the research and tools; they are investing in themselves.” — Jennifer Leon
Ella Collins: from Geospatial Coordinator to Pfizer
Ella Collins joined BGCCCI as Geospatial Coordinator and Administrative Assistant (2021–2022), where she assisted the Director in coordinating and managing the work of more than twenty interns, from high school to graduate students, and contributed to several geospatial research projects as a co-author of research papers. She earned a B.S. in Business Analytics from SUNY New Paltz (2022) and an M.S. in Management from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2025). After a Pfizer internship through INROADS, she joined Pfizer as a Digital Rotational Associate (2022–2024) and is now a Senior Associate in Pfizer’s Regulatory Creation Center.
At Pfizer she uses the skills she built at BGCCCI: people management, research methods, coordination and planning, data management and executive communication. She also leads initiatives such as the Pfizer Digital Hackathon and the Interview Panel Diversity Group.
Women in STEM
Women are an underrepresented but highly valuable group in STEM, especially geospatial technology. At BGCCCI, women are not only encouraged but championed, developing relevant skills and career pathways. Women associated with the Center include industry professionals, BCC faculty and staff, international collaborators, K–20 students and educators, Geospatial Coordinators, administrative assistants and multidisciplinary professors. The Center could not have been built from the ground up without the contributions of its many women staff.
