Rachel Kornak managed the spatial data activities for our very large Great Plains Population and Environment project, and did an outstanding job, leading the creation of an invaluable data resource of outstanding quality. Her capacity to manage a team of 18 technicians while designing the data capture, management, and analysis tasks is unequaled in my experience. Everyone should have a colleague who is as productive, collegial, and experienced!

Rachel approaches her teaching and mentoring tasks at Penn State with tremendous energy. Our online students consistently highlight their satisfaction with her Environmental Applications of GIS class, and Rachel is an outstanding faculty colleague outside of her course.

For our Great Plains research project Rachel oversaw a massive data collection and compilation activity, and trained and coordinated the work of eighteen different student employees. Rachel has seemingly boundless energy, and took to all the tasks with professionalism and dedication. She has always been clear and realistic about what can be completed when, and committed to seeing her work through in a timely manner. She was creative and careful about how we evaluated and analyzed the data. It has been a pleasure working with her on the project.

Simply put, Rachel delivers. As an inaugural member of URISA's Vanguard Cabinet, she was integral to the many accomplishments of this volunteer group of young GIS leaders and set the bar high for future members. Rachel's out-of-the-box thinking and confidence is extraordinary among her peers. I look forward to working with her for years to come and fully expect her to continue assuming leadership roles within URISA.

The AAG's careers outreach has benefited tremendously from Rachel's active involvement. Whether serving as a panelist, volunteering as a career mentor, facilitating a workshop, or as an engaged audience member, she asks thoughtful and thought-provoking questions, provides excellent guidance, and offers support and motivation. She is an inspirational leader who gives generously of her time, talents, and experience to benefit early-career and emerging geospatial professionals.

I was very impressed when I heard Rachel present at The World Bank Innovation Governance and OpenGov Hub Ideation Workshop. She provided informed and practical solutions in a very collegiate manner. She is passionate about geospatial technology and is a great liaison between different organizations and institutes. I really enjoy working with her.

I have known Rachel for several years, having first met her in her role as a Distance Educator in Penn State's Online MGIS Program. She quickly showed herself to be a consistent, inspirational leader to the students both inside and outside her class. Her innovative, professional perspective comes across repeatedly in my contacts with her at numerous conferences and the presentations provided at such. Rachel's enthusiasm is contagious, and I, like everyone with whom she comes in contact, is refreshed and rejuvenated professionally and personally by that energy. She is a true asset to any organization with which she is involved!

I just wanted to make sure you all were aware of the work we did with new geography career-oriented online magazine GeoPivot this year. This summer, after meeting at AAG I asked Rachel Kornak (cc'd), who heads this up this fantastic professional development resource for geographers to come up with a way for us to work together for Geography Awareness Week. What we ended up with is a truly engaging and inspiring series of interviews and articles on five young professional geographers from all over the map (sorry, couldn't help it) talking about the importance of geography and giving advice on education, career advancement, starting your own business and how to use a degree or background in geography to one's advantage professionally. I think Rachel, and our interviewees all did a great job, the site looks beautiful, and Rachel couldn't have been easier to work with. Please check it out at http://www.geopivot.org/ or http://www.geopivot.org/read.html and consider both Rachel and GeoPivot as highly recommended partners to work with again in the future.