College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Bresnahan is currently the Geographic Information Officer (GIO) for Richland County, SC. He has earned bachelor’s (University of Maryland-Baltimore County), master’s (Indiana State University), and Ph.D. (University of South Carolina) degrees in geography. Dr. Bresnahan participated in the Postgraduate Research Program for the U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE) and later was awarded a Post-doctoral Research Fellowship sponsored by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE). Post-doctoral research mapping radiological sites from aerial platforms was conducted at the US DOE facility at the Savannah River Site (SRS). He has also received fellowship awards from AM/FM International (now GITA) and NASA under the South Carolina Space Grant Consortium.

Dr. Bresnahan maintains membership in several professional organizations and remains active through numerous conference presentations and research publications. Previous professional activities include ASPRS (American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing) certification as a Mapping Scientist in GIS/LIS, co-chairing the Technology sub-committee of the South Carolina State Mapping Advisory Committee (SMAC), Advisory Board member of Carolina URISA (NC/SC Chapter of the Urban & Regional Information Systems Association), and participation in numerous federal agency geospatial planning and evaluation efforts. In emphasizing the importance of local government GIS operations, Dr. Bresnahan actively supports efforts of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and chairs the National Association of Counties (NACo) GIS subcommittee. Sponsored by ICMA, Dr. Bresnahan coauthored the text, “The GIS Guide for Local Government Officials” which was published in 2005. More recently (2017), Dr. Bresnahan attained a Remote Pilot certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under Part 107 for small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) and employs a drone fleet for remote sensing and other activities at Richland County.