James B Gillis, NSLS, CLS, RPLS, CP first qualified as a Land Surveyor in 1973, at the age of 21 years. He started in private practice with his own firm two years later, which he continued to operate until he moved to the US. He holds commissions as a Nova Scotia Land Surveyor, a Canada Lands Surveyor, and a Texas Registered Professional Land Surveyor as well as being a Certified Photogrammetrist and a Certified Mapping Scientist – LIDAR. Â Jim has Diplomas (Associate Degrees) in Land Surveying and Geophysical Surveying from the Nova Scotia Land Survey Institute (now known as the College of Geographic Sciences), where he also taught part time. Â
For 52 years, Jim has practiced throughout North and South America and the Middle East and has worked in the field from 78 Degrees North Latitude to 58 Degrees South Latitude and from 52 Degrees East Longitude to 177 Degrees West Longitude. For his 65th birthday, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa with his son Andrew surveying its highest point using GNSS, determining it to have an elevation of 19,326.7’. He recently retired as Manager of Geomatics and Surveying Support for VeriDaaS Corporation, a firm specializing in airborne Geiger-Mode LiDAR data collection and extraction, and now teaches Land Surveying and Geospatial Technology at Dallas College.
Jim has been active in several professional surveying societies and has served as President of the Texas Society of Professional Surveyors. His list of published articles relating to Surveying and Mapping is extensive.
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