Michele Tobias holds a PhD in geography from University of California Davis, as well as an MS from University of Michigan, and a BA from UCLA. She has worked at the UC Davis Library for the past decade as a geospatial data scientist helping researchers with their data needs. Her personal research interests include using open source tools to understand California's sandy beach vegetation and geomorphology. She also has an interest in using her geospatial skills to help underserved research communities. Michele has served on the board of directors for OSGeo (international) and Technocation (OSGeo US), as well as arts non-profit organizations, and is a founding member and coordinator of #maptimeDavis.