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Summary

Steve McKinney, PhD is the President of Spatial Information & Computing Systems Consultants, LLC (known as SICS Consultants, LLC).  He began the company in 1998 as a part-time venture and committed himself to full time to the venture in late 2005.  Dr. McKinney spent 12 years in the Birmingham-Hoover metropolitan area where he worked extensively in the creation of many municipal geographic information systems (GIS), environmental management programs, network infrastructure programs, hazard mitigation systems, environmental planning and modeling systems, and various other engineering and information technology projects.  Dr. McKinney currently resides in Florence, Alabama with his wife, Lee Ann, and son, Alex.

 

Dr. McKinney received a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental geographic information science in 1997, and a Master of Science degree in environmental management in 1999 from Samford University.  He completed his Doctorate in environmental health engineering at the University of Alabama, Birmingham in 2009.  In addition, McKinney has had extensive professional training in computer languages and technical programs.

 

He served as an Adjunct Professor at Samford University for graduate studies in environmental management and geography where he taught Advanced GIS, Remote Sensing, and GIS in Environmental Management from 1999 to 2006.  He is currently as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of North Alabama teaching physical geography, GIS field methods, and advanced GIS.
Dr. McKinney has served as principal investigator, technical coordinator and GIS specialist for several grants including the EPSCOR Project with NASA in 1995; the “Wildlife Corridor Mapping Project” in Tsavo, Kenya, Africa with Samford University in 2000; and the State of the Urban Forest with USFS in 2001.

 

He is a member of many professional organizations, and serves the Alabama Geographic Information Council (AGIC) as a Technical Subcommittee Member and served as the President for the URISA Alabama Chapter.  In addition to Dr. McKinney’s many pursuits, he was listed as one of Birmingham’s “Top 40 Under 40” business people in 2005.  He was awarded by ESRI “Vision in GIS” award in 2008 and the “Special Achievement in GIS” award in 2009.

Work History

SICS Consultants, LLC

Florence, AL, United States
1998 - Present
President 
  • Control, management of budget and acquisitions.
  • Establish project strategies.
  • Assign work loads.
  • Lead project team and implement client solutions.
  • Writing and presenting technical progress reports.
  • Marketing of services and products.

Samford University

Birmingham, AL, United States
1999 - 2006
Adjunct Professor 

Taught graduate courses in "GIS & Environmental Management Issues" and undergraduate courses in "Remote Sensing" and "Applied GIS"

  • Introducing students to the basics of Geographic Information Systems.
  • Providing an overview of relevant theory, software, hardware, databases, and applications.
  • Examining trends in GIS technology from the managerial perspective.

 

Storm Water Management Authority, Inc.

Birmingham, AL, United States
2004 - 2005
Assistant Director 
  • Managing of 35+ employees.
  • Managing all daily operations.
  • Determination and management of 2.5+ million dollar budget.
  • Oversight of all departments including Engineering, Administrative & Financial Services, and Information Technology.
  • Responsible for interpretation of Municipal Phase I NPDES permit.
  • Responsible for implementation of Municipal Phase I NPDES permit programs to ensure compliance for 25 cities and Jefferson County.
  • Responsible for writing, reviewing, and presenting technical presentations and reports to political official, business executives, interest groups, and the scientific community.
  • Responsible for all grant writing and serving as Principal Investigator or Senior Scientist on all awarded grants.
Birmingham, AL, United States
1997 - 2004
GIS Manager 
  • Managing of 24 employees.
  • Budget determination and management.
  • Conceptualization, design, and development of GIS databases and structures.
  • Conceptualization, design, and development of GIS interfaces and customized programs.
  • Managing hardware and software resources of GIS.
  • Assisting in coordinating contracts with GIS hardware, software, and data cabling.
  • Installing and testing of hardware, software and data cabling.
  • Managing local area network, basic operation and maintenance of the Authority's computer systems.
  • Writing and presenting technical division progress reports to the Authority's Executive Committee.

Lucas Engineers, Inc.

Birmingham, United States
1996 - 1997
GIS Programmer/Analyst  
  • Conceptualization, design, and development of GIS databases and structures.
  • Conceptualization, design, and development of GIS interfaces and customized programs.
  • Designed and generated maps for analysis.
  • Met with clients regularly to discuss needs in GIS design.
  • Trained Lucas Engineers and client personnel in the use of customized and standard GIS structures and applications.
  • Maintained Windows NT local area network for approximately 20 users.
  • Purchased, installed and supported all new hardware and software.

Education

University of Alabama at Birmingham - School of Engineering

Birmingham, AL, United States
2009
Doctorate of Philosophy, Environmental Engineering

Samford University - Graduate

Birmingham, AL, United States
1999
Master of Science, Environmental Management

Samford University - Undergraduate

Birmingham, AL, United States
1997
Bachelor of Science, Environmental Geographic Information Systems

Skills

Geographical Information Systems (GIS)

(Rockstar)
10+ Years Experience, (Last Used <1 year ago)
Skillometer_5

Remote Sensing

(Rockstar)
10+ Years Experience, (Last Used <1 year ago)
Skillometer_5

Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

(Expert)
10+ Years Experience, (Last Used <1 year ago)
Skillometer_4

Custom Application/Internet Development

(Expert)
10+ Years Experience, (Last Used <1 year ago)
Skillometer_4

Proficient languages include;

  • AML
  • SML
  • Avenue
  • HTML
  • Visual Basic
  • VBScript
  • VBA
  • Java
  • JavaScript
  • MapObjects
  • ArcObjects
  • T-SQL
  • PL/SQL
  • ASP
  • Perl
  • ASP.NET
  • VB.NET
  • C#
  • Python
  • Silverlight
  • Flex
  • ActionScript

Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS)

(Expert)
10+ Years Experience, (Last Used <1 year ago)
Skillometer_4

Systems include;

  • Microsoft SQL Server
  • Oracle
  • MySQL
  • DBase

Stormwater Management

(Expert)
10+ Years Experience, (Last Used 1-2 years ago)
Skillometer_4

Environmental Modeling

(Expert)
7-9 Years Experience, (Last Used <1 year ago)
Skillometer_4

Environmental Economics

(Advanced)
3-4 Years Experience, (Last Used <1 year ago)
Skillometer_3

Computer Systems Management

(Rockstar)
10+ Years Experience, (Last Used <1 year ago)
Skillometer_5

Network Systems Management

(Rockstar)
10+ Years Experience, (Last Used <1 year ago)
Skillometer_5

Project Management

(Expert)
10+ Years Experience, (Last Used <1 year ago)
Skillometer_4

Professional Organizations

  • URISA – Alabama Chapter, President, 2006
  • URISA – Alabama Chapter, Vice President, 2005
  • URISA – National Chapter, 2004
  • URISA – Alabama Chapter, Board of Directors, 2004
  • Alabama Geographic Information Council, Technical Subcommittee, 2002
  • Stormwater / Wastewater ESRI User's Group, Board of Directors, 2000
  • American Society for Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing, 1998
  • Alabama ArcInfo User's Group, 1998
  • State of Alabama GIS User's Group, 1998

Awards

  1. "Special Achievement in GIS" Award, ESRI 2009
  2. International "Vision In GIS" Award, ESRI 2008
  3. "Top 40 Under 40 Business People of the Year", Birmingham Business Journal 2005

 

Publications/Abstracts/Posters/Presentations

  • *McKinney, S. and Lalor, M. Utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) As A Decision-Tool Integrating Economics And The Environment. 2004 American Water Resources Association (AWRA)
  • McKinney, S. Impacts of Urban Forests on Water Quality in Central Alabama. 2004 Auburn Water Quality Services Annual Conference
  • McKinney, S. Trees Worth Millions! 2004 Alabama Urban Forestry Association Annual Conference
  • McKinney, S. State of Forest in the Cities of Jefferson County. 2003 Storm Water Management Authority, Inc.
  • *Owens, J., Marion, K., Angus, R., Lalor, M., Meyer, E., and McKinney, S. Association between sedimentation potential as estimated by GIS technology, habitat assessment scores, and macroinvertebrate community structure metrics in small, Southeastern streams. 63rd Annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists
  • *Owens, J., Marion, K., Angus, R., Lalor, M., Meyer, E., and McKinney, S. Utilization of GIS to Generate a Watershed Sedimentation Potential Index. 2002 American Water Resources Association (AWRA) Spring Specialty Conference for Coastal Water Resources
  • *Owens, J., Marion, K., Angus, R., Lalor, M., Meyer, E., and McKinney, S. Characterizing a Watershed Sediment Erosion Potential using GIS Technology. 2002 Annual Meeting of the Alabama Academy of Science.
  • *Owens, J., Angus, R., Lalor, M., Meyer, E., McKinney, S., and Marion, K. "An evaluation of sediment-sensitive biotic metrics as biomonitoring tools in the implementation of a watershed Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)." Manuscript.
  • *Measels, M. and McKinney, S. Mobile Geodatabase Generation Utilizing ArcObjects and GPS Integration 2002 Alabama Geographic Information Council (AGIC) GIS Symposium
  • McKinney, S. Every Picture Tells a Story: The Birmingham Metro's New Satellite Imaging Program 2002 Birmingham-Southern's 4th Annual Livable Cities Conference
  • McKinney, S. Modeling: A Planning Tool - Uses in planning on a watershed and site specific level 2001 Alabama Soil and Water Conservation Society Annual Meeting
  • McKinney, S. Birmingham Metro Remote Sensing and Interpretation for Urban Forestry Application 2001 Birmingham-Southern's 3rd Annual Livable Cities Conference
  • McKinney, S. "Mapping the Taita" Water Writes - ESRI, 2001

 

*Pending publication

 

Articles

Presentations

Slideshare_16 Kml Generation Web Services

This presentation describes a Web service that dynamically generates a KML from user-selected layers. The service, originally designed on the Alabama Resource Management System for Virtual Alabama, uses computational geometry to generate thematic layers on the fly. Users choose map layers of interest and a KML is then made available to them for download. This discussion will show how quickly a novice user can utilize a Web service to locate and visualize thematic data layers of interest without having to use anything more than their browser and KML displaying application.

Slideshare_16 Watershed Conference - "The value nature vs the nature of value" - 2006

The historical perspective of what today is considered the modern study of environmental economics begins with problems proposed by Garret Hardin in his famous essay "The Tragedy of the Commons" in 1968.  Many scientists, engineers, and economists have proposed methods of assessing the value of the natural environment since this time.  This presentation will discuss many of these methods with specific focus on application of substitute cost method and its potential for application in stormwater management and mitigation.