Ian Sotheran is co-founder of Envision Mapping. He graduated from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1993 after completing a BSc in Marine Biology. He was employed at the University of Newcastle for six years. Initially he spent two years as a teaching assistant for the Department of Marine Sciences & Coastal Management whilst carrying out part-time research with SeaMap Research Group. From 1995, he worked full time with SeaMap developing new methods for data analysis and presentation of acoustic data. Through several years of survey, Ian has excellent experience in offshore and inshore working procedures and practises. He has held positions as a project manager in the commercial sector

Ian is often involved with survey work both in the UK and overseas, with surveys being completed as part of environmental legislation compliance for european union states and industrial clients. Recently Ian has delivery training courses for use of GIS and is due to play a lead role in a workshop delevoping shoreline mapping in Malaysia.

Ian can provide expertise in marine survey for offshore and nearshore projects, has considerable expertise with marine acoustic systems, such as AGDS and side scan sonar. GIS and database support can be provided with bespoke appilications developed in Visual Basic, Mapbasic and also ASP and ColdFusion can be used to deliver products via the internet.