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Porch & Parish

My GIS Internship Experience: Christian McMillan's Internship with WBR Assessor Chris Guerin

In May 2025, Christian McMillan began an internship with the West Baton Rouge Assessor’s Office after earning a Geographical Technician Certificate during the 2024–2025 school year. The office had arranged a schedule that included hands-on experiences across several departments, from the 911 Center to Utilities Control. The following story map outlines Christian’s week, offering a detailed look at each day’s activities and insights for anyone interested in following along on this journey in his own words.

Monday, July 7th

Day 1: WBR Parish Assessor's Office

In today's session, I met West Baton Rouge's Assessor, Chris Guerin along with his co-workers Alex Angrisano, and Barry Brewer. I'm so thankful for this opportunity as I explored and learned a lot of new things on day one of my internship. One of the few first things I learned was how to search up anyone's property and find data/information about it. I did this by using the WBR Assessors website. For most of the day I stayed inside, learning more about property tax and how money is divided within the parish. Later, I did some hands on activity and had the opportunity to measure a home's livable area, something every property goes through. I was able to do this with a tablet like device that has a software allowing me to input the homes measurements and directions.

Throughout the day, there were a few things that I liked and disliked. I loved everything about the lesson and activities I was put through, however I didn't like that the public could find useful information about someone's home! I might find it just a little bit weird.. however its still cool! If there was a particular area of interest I'd like to learn more about it would be property tax. I find it so amazing that everyone in the parish contributes to paying a certain amount of money annually and eventually, that money comes right back to their service to provide for locations like schools, public buildings, parks, etc.

Tuesday, July 8th

Day 2: WBR Parish 911 Office

On day two of my internship, I had the opportunity to tour the West Baton Rouge 911 Center and see how everything operates. During my journey I met Deano Moran, Cody Davis and a few other inspiring people. We started the day off with a tour, and I was absolutely amazed when I saw the building. Its like something you'd see in a movie or TV show, at least the upstairs area. I was then brought to THE room; where it all happens, where the 911 calls are transferred to. I got to witness how a single 911 call can give away you're entire location. And of course, I got to hear the dispatchers dispatch real 911 calls to the officials!

Later in the day Cody, brought me to a command truck. They're so much bigger in person.. at least 5 times bigger than me and I'm not exaggerating! Once I entered the truck, It was a little tight and looked like a big RV, until, Mr.Deano clicked a button and suddenly the truck starting transforming. The walls literally expanded and were automatically pushed back with the click of one button. I 100% enjoyed the entire experience and would do it again anyday, even if its to spend time with the employees. My favorite part of the day was watching 911 calls come through the system. Thank you to everyone who contributed to make this day possible.

Wednesday, July 9th

Day 3: WBR Parish GIS Department

On day three of my internship, I was with the West Baton Rouge GIS Department and met Mr. Fulton once again. This day was a day to remember! Mr. Fulton had a meeting to attend that same morning, so I attended! We then started working and plotting streets on the same new subdivision as mentioned in day one. I learned that when adding a singular street, a lot of information is involved. I had the ability to add the information; street name, street coordinates, etc. After inputting the information, we added vertices, which is the street itself!

For lunch, Mr. Fulton brought me to Raising Canes which I enjoyed but things took a little turn when I accidently gave him a sweet tea shower. Mr. Fulton's truck is at lest 6ft, mind you, I'm only 5'1. As we were leaving the restaurant, I attempted to hop in the truck with my full cup of sweet tea and to-go box. Once I hopped in, I fell.. The sweet tea spilt everywhere in his car, including on Mr. Fulton..! Everyone was ok and so was the car! This was definitely a day to remember! Thank you Mr. Fulton for making this day as memorable as it was!

Thursday, July 10th

Day 4: WBR Parish Utilities & Mosquito Control

On day four of my internship, I had an opportunity to work with the West Baton Rouge Parish Utilities & Mosquito Control. I started the day at the Mosquito Control center where I learned a ton! On my journey I met George Brags, the Mosquito/Animal Control Superintendent, and his team members, Ronny Carpenter and Michael Joseph. My favorite part was when I was driven to Addis to cure some storm drains. I was instructed to take a bag of little pellets and throw them into the drains. We tracked which drains needed to be cured with a geographical information system that was built into a iPad like device. We came across some issues as It started to drizzle, and with water, the bags of pellets will dissolve, so it wont last as long. I wish i would've asked while I was there, but I wonder what exactly is in those pellets that cause them to kill mosquitos. As George said, "when people think of mosquito control, they'll think of us in their neighborhoods but don't know everything we actually do", which is a VERY true statement as I've seen with my own eyes today.

After lunch; For the remainder of my work day, I went to work with the West Baton Rouge Utilities Department where I met Cedric Griffin. As soon as I arrived, we left! We headed to Addis to find the gallons of water, amount of gas, etc, people were using in their property. To do this, I was given a tablet with a sensor and location that goes off every time we'd find out an amount of gas or water used at a property. For example, once I entered a neighborhood, the scanner goes off immediately as is scans many homes. You may be asking, does every property have a sensor? Yes, every property's sensor is located on their meter, which can be located differently depending on the year the house was built. For homes with sensors harder to locate, we had to get out of the truck and manually read the number and paste it into the app. 

This experience has changed my perspective of this job and I would 100% consider it!

Christian’s experience shows how hands-on learning can open doors to new career paths and practical skills. If you’re inspired by his journey and want to take the next step toward a rewarding career in GIS, utilities, or public service, consider pursuing a Geographical Technician Certificate. This program equips you with the tools, training, and real-world experience to make an impact in your community.

Learn more and start your journey today!

Global Geospatial Institute - 8000 Innovation Park Drive Building 3000 Baton Rouge LA

Global Geospatial Institute - 8000 Innovation Park Drive, Building 3000, Baton Rouge, LA

The Global Geospatial Institute (GGI) team offers spatial education though state-of-the-art technology. We strive to put Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) techno... Read More » 

 

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