Alumni Highlights: Jose L. Pillich, PhD


Dr. Jose L. Pillich earned all of his degrees from the City University of New York City (CUNY).  Dr. Pillichreceived a Bachelor of Arts, Major in Urban Studies from Hunter College, New York in 2007.  He received his Master’s in Urban Planning, Hunter College, in 2010.  He later earned his doctoral degree at the CUNY Graduate Center in Earth and Environmental Sciences in 2018.  He completed his Postdoctoral Research at Brooklyn College, in 2019.  Throughout his education, his primary research interests have been at the intersection of urban planning and using geospatial techniques that lead to enhancing social, environmental, and economic systems. Furthermore, he has also lived abroad and traveled extensively, with a strong interest in exploring diverse cultures and ways of life. With over 15 years of working in the private and public sectors, Dr. Pillich has become an interdisciplinary researcher with extensive experience in geospatial/data analysis, urban planning, sustainability, environmental, financial service, and transportation. With these broad experiences, Dr. Pillich has applied this knowledge to work as an adjunct professor, consultant, and researcher presenting at major academic conferences that have led to published journal articles.

In 2018, he completed his postdoctoral research with Brooklyn College and in conjunction worked with HSBC executives.  His responsibilities included the construction of green infrastructure sensors, educating HSBC employees on green initiatives, and working with municipal governments in the United States/Canada where these sensors would be installed. In 2021, Dr. Pillich was one of the authors with his postdoctoral colleagues that published “Rapid Assessment and Long-Term Monitoring of Green Stormwater Infrastructure with Citizen Scientists”.  From that experience, he started to realize that his geospatial research could be highly applicable in the private sector for many different industries. 

In 2022, he started the SBS, a minority-certified company IQSpatial in New York City.  The company’s primary focus is the following:   IQSpatial is a small geospatial consultancy that takes location data and transforms it to provide insights spanning multiple industries. He is currently in the process of preparing proposals for RFPs and creating new spatial products/services for his company. 

References

Meixner, T., Berkowitz, A., Downey, A., Pillich, J., LeVea, R., Smith, B., Chandler, M., Gupta, N., Rullman, A., Cherrier, J. Sustainability Journal/Special Issue: Rapid Assessment and Long-Term Monitoring Of Green Stormwater ffffInfrastructure with Citizen Scientists(2021).