A love of people, places and data have drawn me down the path of the geographer. I’ve been using geospatial tools for over a decade to meld these interests together and help tell the stories of organizations that are doing good in the world.
Storytellers
Geographers
Blue Water GIS is a small, family owned firm that was born out of a passion for understanding and conserving our natural world. The powerful geospatial programs and data visualization software available today allow us to interpret, map, and display the workings of our physical world like never before. And that's what we've been doing since 2009.
We clarify data into compelling stories and beautiful maps.
We are based out of Bellingham, WA, but being explorers at heart, we always look for opportunities to map new terrain, meet new people and discover new projects around the globe.

Katie Gaut
Data Nerd and Mapping Guru
Curiosity and the drive to explore have taken me across the globe, working in the estuaries of Alaska, the jungles of Hawai’i, and the seas of British Columbia. And while adventure fuels the soul, numbers and maps fuel my spirit. Few things make me happier than guiding good people through the creative process of telling the story of meaningful work.

- 15 years tinkering with ArcGIS products
- 10 years crunching data and making it shine
- 12 years experience in water rights analysis
- University of Hawai’i, MS – Conservation Biology
- Southern Oregon University, BS – Computer Science & Biology
- Sailing (I’ve been a captain for 10+ years & hold a USCG 100 Ton Master Captain’s License)
- Freediving and spearfishing in tropical waters
- Milking our small herd of dairy goats
Mark Thompson
Writer, Mapmaker, Naturalist
Since Blue Water’s inception, I’ve provided various talents as both copy editor and graphic designer. While my main focus is the written word, I also take lead on data visualization, cartographic design and photography.
Underlying all my crafts, both at work and at play, is a desire to explore and learn. If I’m tracking an animal, my map is the trail itself. If I’m in the mountains, a topo, and at sea, a nautical chart. Different journeys require different maps, but all good ones share the trait that they inspire you to explore further. This is our goal as well in all that we do.

- 12 years of natural resource project management
- Lifetime of creative and technical writing
- 6 years of plant production and small scale agriculture
- University of Montana, BS – Liberal / Wilderness Studies
- Plant propagation
- Natural history and the deciphering of ecological patterns
- Tracking wild animals
Our Partners
Writer, Mapmaker, Naturalist
While we typically handle projects entirely in house, there are times when an outside partner brings a particular skill to the table that makes the end product even more exceptional. Over the past five years we have cultivated relationships with professionals that excel in coding, marketing, design and social media.
If our skills don’t quite cut it, we’re not too proud to call on a little help from our friends. Similarly, if your organization has overlapping or complimentary skills, we are happy to work alongside your team to make the best product possible.

Amanda Huber
Mapmaker and Data Viz Designer
Amanda’s been designing maps, data visualizations and Story Maps with Blue Water since 2016, and she has become an integral part of our team on most every project we embark on. She’s a wizard when it comes to beautifying and displaying complex data, a testament to her expertise in both GIS and visual design.

- 7+ years of GIS data wrangling, product design, and mapmaking
- Data visualization, user design, and cartography
- University of Minnesota – Duluth, BS – Geology, GIS Certificate, Minor in Communications
- Exploring the wilderness while hiking, fishing, and camping.
- Landscape and macro photography
- Rockhounding
- Playing ultimate frisbee competitively around the United States