Natalie Thomsen, UMF junior, has been immersed in municipal government this summer, according to a recent article in the Kennebec Journal. As an intern with the City of Gardiner’s Department of Public Works, Thomsen is using her knowledge of GIS to update data to help manage the city’s storm water system. Her work comes at a time when city officials are completing a transition to a web-based program to keep track of information in a more user-friendly way. Her GIS knowledge is also being applied to the Gardiner Public Library project of geo-referencing the city’s nineteenth and twentieth century Sanborn maps. This will help the city with determining assessment and property values, economic development planning and ways to increase municipal efficiencies. “We are exposing Natalie to several levels of municipal government as she told us she is interested in possibly pursing it as a career,” said Tony LaPlante, Gardiner public works director, “Natalie has been a joy to work with and will be a great hire for someone down the road.”