Stefany Carty: Globe Building Sponsoring Of USGIF Scholarship, Attracts & Retains Talent To & In St. Louis

The Globe Building is once again partnering with the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) by underwriting a graduate scholarship to support the growth of geospatial talent in the St. Louis region.

St. Louis University master’s degree student Stefany Carty has been named the recipient of the 2025 USGIF Scholarship sponsored by The Globe Building.

Stefany is an emerging geospatial professional and graduate student researcher at Saint Louis University, where she is pursuing a master's degree in Geospatial Information Science.

Since the announcement in 2016 of the federal decision to build the 3,000-job, $1.75-billion, 100-acre new headquarters of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) in St. Louis, the community has focused on the geospatial industry as a potential segment for growing the St. Louis economy. NGA’s new HQ opens this September.

St. Louis Magazine Business Editor Eric Schmid has observed, “The St. Louis region has staked a significant portion of its future economic development on technologies and industries that are still emerging. To make this bet on things like geospatial, advanced manufacturing, and ag tech successful, the region will need many more workers ready to enter those fields when employers come calling.”

Recognizing the critical importance of this talent pipeline, The Globe Building has once again sponsored a U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) Scholarship.

Stefany Carty’s graduate program is focused on applying remote sensing and machine learning to critical real-world challenges --- including disaster response and maritime security. Her current research involves developing tools to preprocess and analyze sonar and optical data collected by unmanned underwater vehicles, supporting real-time mapping and threat detection in coastal environments.

Congratulating Stefany Carty (center) on her receipt of the 2025 USGIF Globe Building Scholarship are Dick Fleming of Community Development Ventures and Enbal Shacham of SLU and the Board of the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation.

Commenting on the Award, Carty noted, “Thank you to the team at the Globe Building St. Louis and the USGIF for this award, and to my community at Saint Louis University for their support. Being named a recipient of the Globe Building St. Louis Scholarship is both an honor and a moment of momentum—it affirms the direction of my work and gives me the resources to take it further.”

USGIF has awarded more than $2 million in scholarships since launching the program in 2004 --- with industry-sponsored scholarships being the core of the program.

USGIF CEO Ronda Schrenk commented, "At USGIF, our scholarship program represents our unwavering commitment to fostering innovation, excellence, and leadership within the GEOINT community. By investing in these bright minds, we are not only supporting their academic and professional journeys but also shaping the future of our industry. Together, we are building a stronger, more connected world.”

Associate Dean for Research at St. Louis University and USGIF Board Member Dr. Enbal Shacham underscored the importance of talent to St. Louis’ geospatial ecosystem, “With the support from the USGIF's Globe Building Scholarship, St. Louis continues to show a commitment to geospatial intelligence workforce training. Stefany is a great student who shows creativity, expansive geospatial skills, and grit to solve complex challenges in our changing world. This type of foundational support will help support the work of geospatial ecosystem in St. Louis and beyond.”

In addition to The Globe Building Scholarship, other 2025 USGIF Scholarships this year include: the Stu Shea Endowed Scholarship, as well as Scholarships sponsored by GDIT; Reinventing Geospatial Inc (RGi); Leidos; Ken Miller; Black Cape; MAXAR; Westway Services; AWS; GeoFutures STL; and the Future Geospatial Innovator Award.