Member Spotlight: Tyler DeBruin

We've brought back the Member Spotlight series so we can all get to know each other better.  Do you know a WLIA colleague that you think people should know?  Let us know at communications@wlia.org and send us their contact information.  We may not get to everyone, but we'll try!

Today, we're excited to chat with a new WLIA board member, Tyler DeBruin. He’s a dedicated GIS Utility Analyst for the Town of Grand Chute and serves as the Vice Chair for the Spring Education Committee. With five years in his current role and a background in GIS and Environmental Biology from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, Tyler has carved out a significant niche in his community. Join me in getting to know a bit more about the work Tyler has done and how he endeavors to live a fulfilling life doing the things he loves and share it with the people he cares about.

How did you come to your current profession or job?  
I was first introduced to GIS through my interest in environmental biology. During my junior year in college my friend/classmate and I received a grant to map fish habitat along the Chippewa River between Eau Claire Wisconsin and the Mississippi River. Mapping out fish habitat made it essential for one of us to learn GIS/GPS technology. We were instructed to use a Trimble unit to walk riffles, backwaters, and sandbars since those are 3 distinct fish habitat types for a river system. Since I am 6’7’’ I was coined for learning the mapping side of the project since I could more easily walk the entire fish habitat with the Trimble unit. So I am partially in the GIS field because I am tall. That obviously isn’t the only reason I chose to major in GIS and start a career in GIS. After learning what I needed to for our project it really opened the flood gates for my interest in GIS. Afterwards, I conducted 3 GIS based grant funded research projects and ended up double majoring in GIS and Environmental Biology.

I came into my current position because it was always my goal to use my knowledge and skills to make a difference in my community. After college I was able to take on LTE rolls at Brown County and the Village of Greenville for roughly a year and a half total between the two. Afterwards I took a position at East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission. I was able to make an impact on the region through this position for 6 years. The opportunity came up though to work directly with the community I call home, and I couldn’t pass up taking my current position with the Town of Grand Chute back in 2019.

I really enjoy hearing about how people get into GIS, and this may be my favorite answers to date. There’s a z-value joke in here somewhere – I’m sure of it. I’m curious though, is there a project you're particularly proud of that you feel has made a difference in your community?

I don’t think there is one particular project that I am most proud of. There is always a type of project I am always most proud of though. Many times throughout my career I have been deeply involved in grant applications. Many of these are for roadway projects that include trails and other multi modal means of transportation. Most of the time, if we do not get grant money, those types of facilities end up not being included because of budgetary concerns. It always makes me feel really good to see families and residents use these facilities and to know I had a role in making it possible. It is a physical manifestation of the work I did with my GIS skills.  

What’s your most favorite part and least favorite part of your job?

My favorite part of the job is the variety. I am able to do projects for our Community Development, Department of Public Works, Administrative, Fire, and Police Departments. All of these departments have different needs when it comes to using GIS, so it makes every project unique. I also get the opportunity to conduct a good deal of field work which I really enjoy. I have my FAA Part 107, so I conduct a decent amount of drone imagery projects. I also have my Erosion Control Inspection license through the state, so I get into the field to inspect erosion control measures at the different projects throughout the Town. 

I don’t really have a least favorite part of my job that is consistent. In all reality, I would just say the early mornings getting into the office when my newborn daughter has been restless the night before just wanting that extra hour or two of sleep. If I had to pick something directly related to work I would have to say when projects our team works on get changed/cancelled by outside forces. This doesn’t happen very often, but it can be a defeating feeling when a grant application gets altered or cancelled for example. This is just the nature of the job though, since things like roadway projects and funding mechanisms can change over time. Even though these can be setbacks and seen as negatives, usually the basis for the project is still the same, so you can adjust to address the item in the future by a different means. 

What do you like to do for fun?  (Hobbies, volunteer work, etc)

I love to play volleyball. I have played throughout college and continue to play in volleyball leagues and summer tournaments. Wisconsin actually hosts one of the largest volleyball tournaments in the world called Waupaca Boatride (2,600+ teams last year) and I love to participate in that and other fun summer tournaments throughout the state. 
I also enjoy going up to my dad’s home in Pickerel Wisconsin to hunt and fish on his land. My mother also has a cabin on Lake Metonga in Crandon Wisconsin that I enjoy to visit in the summer months to swim, fish, water ski, boat, and relax. 
I enjoy my second job bartending at a family friend’s bar/restaurant called City Limits in Menasha Wisconsin. I have been doing that on the side for over 12 years now, so a lot of the regulars and coworkers there are very close friends. 
One unique hobby I have that most people may have never tried before is underwater spear fishing in Wisconsin. You can actually do this in most counties (some northern counties it’s illegal) and use a spear gun to harvest pan fish and rough fish (mostly Perch and Bullhead). 
Another thing I enjoy doing is exploring Door County with my wife. We have owned 3 acres of land in the Town of Egg Harbor since 2020, so we enjoy working on our land to one day open an AirBnb. We also love going up to Door County to golf, hike, swim, visit wineries, eat at new restaurants, and explore the small towns along Lake Michigan. 

A better question might have been what hobbies do you not participate in! That’s pretty incredible. Have you made maps related to any of these?

Sort of, but it is sporadic. I have used GIS though in the past to help plan items for Door County. We actually wouldn’t have found the land in the first place without my work background, so I indirectly used it to get our feet wet in our Door County dreams. One item where my map geek side comes out is during Waupaca Boatride. They always have a giant map near the registration area where people from around the country can put a push pin in from where they have come from. It always is a cool conversation starter as well to see where people have come from. The last time my team played in the tournament we ended up in a pool with a bunch of teams from California that road trip all the way to Wisconsin every year for the tournament. 

What’s something most people wouldn’t guess about you?

Something most people wouldn’t guess about me that also had one of the largest impacts on my life too is that I am a cancer survivor. When I was a freshman in college I developed a large lump on my neck and later found out after a biopsy that it was Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. This happened right after spring break, so spring semester of my first year of college was almost complete. My teachers at the time were extremely supportive and let me slowly finish my spring classes over summer while I received chemotherapy back home (this is well before remote classes/work were common). Come fall semester I was due to have radiation treatments, but couldn’t live in the dorms since I would need my own room with my immune system being compromised from my treatments. My college fraternity (Phi Gamma Delta) gave me my own room at the chapter house so I could return to school and complete my fall semester while I received radiation treatments at the Mayo extension in Eau Claire. I have been cancer free now since 2008.
Having had cancer actually helped make it possible for me to become a father as well. The combination of my wife’s health history and my health history made it look impossible for us to have a child of our own. Livestrong stepped in and paid for my wife and I to have IVF treatments at an extremely reduced cost to store embryos for future surrogacy. We were able to store 5 viable embryos and just had our first child via surrogate back in September of 2023. One of the hardest chapters in my life helped me become the person I am today along with giving me the best gift ever in my daughter Gracyn. 

That’s an incredibly inspiring journey – thank you for sharing. Very happy to hear you’re all doing well and have a wonderful new addition to your life and family! I can see why you manage your time so thoughtfully too. Do you participate in any cancer-related volunteer organizations or have any charities that are meaningful to you that you’d like to share?

I have done a few different volunteer items in the past, but nothing very recent. I did receive a grant from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society back when I was in college so I donate to them periodically. A while back when I was more recently removed from chemotherapy and radiation treatments I did mentor through the organization for young adults my age on what to expect with treatments, things I did that helped get through the side effects, and so on. Those have honestly fallen aside since I am so removed from when I actually had my treatments. I have volunteered with a variety of groups that have participated in Rock Cancer in past years as well. 

Where would you most like to travel to and why?

I have traveled to Aruba 4 times and Las Vegas 8, so I am always up to picking those two spots even for the future! The beaches on Aruba are absolutely stunning and the food is out of this world. The island is also extremely safe, multiple times we’ve walked through small side streets in the capital of Oranjestad at night and felt perfectly safe. For Las Vegas there is just so much to do and see. Even though I have been there so many times already there are still things I haven’t done or seen. If I am picking some place new I would definitely pick a few spots in Europe. A large portion of my family traces back to Little Chute Wisconsin, and they actually have a very well run municipal online ancestry database. I have used this to track a lot of my family ancestry back to the specific towns/cities in Europe, mostly in The Netherlands and a few spots in Germany & Scotland as well. I think it would be very interesting to visit all of the different spots in these countries where my family called home at some point. Most of my family ancestry comes from extremely small villages (some with only ~250 or so people) so finding a place to stay would be half of the fun!