Geoff Peat: The Map That Changed Everything

When Geoff Peat first stumbled upon GIS, it was by accident. He was out for a run during university, glanced through a window, and saw something unusual—people bent over a giant table, carefully clicking points onto a map.

“I was like what the heck is that?” Geoff recalled. “They were digitizing pingos and wetlands in the Arctic. It was going into a computer. I thought—wow, magic.”

That early glimpse stayed with him. Years later, as a biologist working for the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, Geoff was deep in data—writing detailed reports on water quality across the watershed. But those reports sat on shelves, unread.

Then came a turning point: a public meeting. “No one had read the report I’d written,” Geoff said.

“But I put out this map and suddenly people were looking at it… seeing connections, asking questions. That was my aha moment. I realized GIS was my collaboration tool.”

From that moment on, Geoff’s path shifted. What began as a side project became a central passion: making complex ecological data clear, visual, and accessible through GIS. Over the years, Geoff evolved from field ecologist to Director of Information Management, leading innovations in how data is shared across disciplines and governments.

Still, the road wasn’t always smooth. Geoff weathered five different provincial governments—and a one-third funding cut delivered overnight. But in the face of that, he doubled down on the power of mapping.

“GIS helps us communicate visually,” he explained. “When you can put a map in the middle of the room, suddenly the engineer, the fisheries biologist, the climate planner—everyone’s speaking the same language.”

Even more powerful than the technology, Geoff says, is what happens when people are empowered to use it themselves. “It used to be, people came to me for a map. But the real change happened when they could make their own. They’d bring together data in ways I never would’ve thought of. That’s real collaboration.”

That spirit of collaboration now defines Geoff’s legacy—from building one of Ontario’s most recognized GIS partnerships with York Region, to supporting dozens of other conservation authorities across the province. For him, it always comes back to one thing: trust.

“I’ve been fortunate to work with people who’ve stayed 10, 15, even 20 years. When you have that trust, people can try new ideas, take risks, learn from each other. That’s how we solve the big problems—together.”

Today, Geoff’s work quietly protects the future of Lake Simcoe, a place where his own daughter swims and bikes each summer. And with the next generation bringing new tools like AI into the mix, he’s more curious than ever.

“We can't do this by ourselves,” he said. “But when we connect across agencies, across disciplines—that’s where the change happens.”