A career as a Geospatial Scientist

Discipline, commitment, resilience, ambition and dedication have catapulted Ndumezulu Mpofu (NM) away from the streets of Bulawayo to a career as a Geospatial Scientist in the USA. The journey has not been easy and he shares his roller coaster experience with Thando Nkomo (TN).

TN: Hello Ndumezulu and thank you for the opportunity to feature you on Phakama Career TALKS as you share your career journey and hopefully inform and inspire students scattered across the world. So who is Ndumezulu Mpofu?

NM: Ndumezulu is a young man at the age of 31. I was born in Kwekwe in the year 1990. Born into a Seventh-day Adventist family and I have been an Adventist since. My faith has been the base and anchor to my success story. And my parents or rather family, have played a pivotal role in the man I've become today. Needless to say, God is at the center of my life. As an individual, I am a lowly person, somewhat an introvert and for the most part shy. But if you ask most of my friends and family they will deny that for a fact, because of my unique ability to relate with people. I'm sociable and I enjoy having conversations with all kinds of people regardless of their ethnicity, religion, or demography. This has aided me to view social dynamics, different desciplines, politics, economics and life in general, from diffrent lenses.

TN: You were born in Zimbabwe in the midlands town of Kwekwe and then you spent the better part of your schooling years in Bulawayo. What was your dream career during those tender years?

NM: This you will definitely find interesting. During my early childhood years I was fascinated by the idea of being an Opthalmologist, which apparently was a bias because of my eye condition. I so wanted to find a way to fix my eyes and also help others with a similar condition. A noble desire and motivation for a young man's career, I suppose. I still had a lot to learn and figure out in life at this point.

TN: After completing high school your went on to study Geography and population science at Lupane State Univesrity before completing a masters in geographic information science and remote sensing at the University of Zimbabwe. What was on your mind as you were on this educational journey?

NM: At this point in my life I had a clear perspective of the direction I want to take. I had discovered my passion for geography as a science. That influenced my decision to want to pursue a degree program in Geography and Environmental Science at MSU or at the University of Zimbabwe. But my parents wouldn't let me go to MSU because of it's reputation at the time. Clearly they were being protective and we couldn't afford tuition at the University of Zimbabwe. So, I found myself at Lupane State studying Geography and Population Studies, which was more social than scientific. However within that program I discovered I was more passionate about Geographic Information Science as a multi-desciplinary subject which gave me the opportunity to apply myself in several scientific desciplines. My enthusiasm for the University of Zimbabwe still lingered within me, and I made it my goal to pursue a Masters in Geographic Information Science and Remote Sensing at UZ. Shortly after completing my first degree at Lupane State University, I made my way to the University of Zimbabwe. Which clearly, was a success at this point. This began my transition into a more focused and stream lined career path.

TN: How did you end up doing a PHD so many miles away from home? Was this always part of your grand plan in your professional development?

NM: My time at the University of Zimbabwe availed so many opportunities to coloborate and attend conferences with renowned scientific icons from different corners of the globe. I had a dream to be in the first world, the prospect of making it was not as bright at that point though. In interacting with my professors I was presented with an opportunity to pursue a PHD program in the United States via the Fulbright Scholarship Program targeting the enrichment of university teaching staff around Zimbabwean colleges. Having taught at Lupane State and Chinhoyi University of Technology, I committed to getting that scholarship, competitive as it was. I was one of 3 people awarded the Fulbright Scholarship to pursue their PHD programs in the United States, an opportunity I will forever be grateful for.

TN: You are currently an adjuct professor, a spatial data scientist and the founder of NGS ProAnalytics. Tell us more about the work that you do under these three roles.

NM: When I got to the United States I decided to pursue another Master of Science program In Geospatial Science with St Cloud State University prior to my PHD program with John D Odegard School of Aerospace Science at the University of North Dakota. The objective was to gain exposure to modern technology within my career, which the University of Zimbabwe had no capacity to expose me to. A decision that culminated in me being employed as an Adjunct Professor at St Cloud State University. An enriching experience, exposing me to opportunities to collaborate with different Geospace Companies around the State of Minnesota and also teach Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing. NGS ProAnalytics on the other hand, is a geospace consulting agency, conceptulized in the year 2014 and became operational in the year 2017. At the core of the company is a vision to provide geospatial centered solutions to several disciplines, including Precision Agriculture, Infrastructure Inspections, Business Intelligence and Spatial Data Modeling for different ecosystems. The key technologies employed being, UAS (Drones), Satellite Data, Computer algorithms etc. My work as a spatial data scientist involves environmental policy making, spatial data modeling, predictive analysis in climate science, environmental science, business intelligence and law enforcement intelligence, to note but a few.

TN: Looking back into your career development, what would you say have been the critical factors that have led you to be where you are today?

NM: My career development path was neither easy nor straight forward. Tough decisions and choices had to be made at several points along the way. But my faith in God has always been a fundamental aspect of my career development, without which I wouldn't have made it past the difficult crucibles the journey brought with it. Descipline, commitment, determination, resilience, laiser focus and my ability to pivot, where necessary, are top tier factors that have led me thus far. My greatest ambition was to make a difference in my community and the world at large. So far, I have participated in several initiatives that are solving real-time problems within different communities. Hence, my gratitude to God for yet another goal realised.

TN: What personal attributes or qualities do you consider to be at the core of the success that you currently enjoy in your career?

NM: Discipline, commitment, resilience, ambition and dedication.

TN: Can you point out to any challenges that you have faced as you were journeying towards your career goals. How did you manage to overcome these challenges and what lessons can you share?

NM: I have faced so many challenges in my journey towards success. I don't even know where to start. The hardest and most difficult challenge I've faced was securing funds to pursue my studies. After completing my first Msc at the University of Zimbabwe, I battled tooth and nail to secure funding to continue with my studies. Just when I thought the scholarship had solved all my problems, I had to face the challenge of adjusting into a new society, with cultural nuances I was not accustomed to. I had to learn how to navigate the American system as both an academic and a professional. More so, I had to deal with depression that comes with being far from family and close friends. Despite these challenges, I found myself adjusting to diverse cultures I came across. I took it upon myself to familiarise with several languages (French, Espanol, Latin etc) that way I made friends and established a network with a diverse group of people. Although they couldn't fill in the void of family, they did create a social comfort as I transitioned into America; many of which helped me navigate both my academic and professional career paths.

TN: What would you say are your current career development priorities at this stage in your life?

NM: My key priorities right now are completing my doctoral studies, scaling up NGS and expanding into West and East Africa, Asia and Europe. My intentions are to reach self actualization at the age of 40, which is 9 years from now. I intend to establish a non profit foundation that will help children from low income communities across the globe, starting in Zimbabwe, my home country. The objective is to make provision for their education, medicare and transition them into a sustainable life style.

TN: What is your advice to young people who are probably wondering about what the future holds in terms of their career development and opportunities for success?

NM: Have a dream, a goal or an objective for your life. Stay the course no matter what comes your way. Know your purspose, especially God's purpose for your existence and work hard towards your goals. Choose faith over doubt, reason over fear and positive expectation over worry.