Joe Duckers
Geographer, Tech Builder & Founder
About Me
Just a few things I'm into and what I spend my time doing.
Hi, I'm Joe. I studied geography at university, worked in management consulting & mergers and acquisitions, scaling & positioning SMEs to exit; then pivoted into tech after a career break/realignment in San Francisco in 2024.
For the past twelve months or so I've been learning the ropes of computer science & software development. I've then built a few SaaS projects, done some equity investing and rolled it all up into an umbrella company.
This site is mostly just a place for me to share what I've been up to. If you're into geography, tech, or just curious about how different fields overlap, you might find something interesting here. Also, 8,005,176,000 have access to this site within the two seconds it takes to google my name, so it made sense to build an online profile/presence.
Keep Going...
Ventures & Projects
These are a collection of SaaS projects, volunteering positions and other ventures of curiosity I've been involved in. They are not all commercial, impressive or even good; but they are a reflection of my learning journey so far.
Academic / Research Interests
I like to explore old/new research papers across quite a variety of fields. My main interests lie across the entire body of geography, architecture, physics, computer science, politics, economics, history. Pretty broad scope, but interesting to me.
The Geographical Pivot of History
Halford J. Mackinder
A classic paper in geopolitics that introduced the Heartland Theory. Mackinder argued that control of the Eurasian 'Heartland' was key to dominating the 'World-Island' and, consequently, the world.
A quantitative approach to the morphological classification of landforms
W. E. H. Culling
An early and influential paper that applied statistical and mathematical methods to geomorphology, helping to shift the field towards a more quantitative and process-oriented approach.
The City as a Growth Machine: Toward a Political Economy of Place
Harvey Molotch
A seminal paper in urban sociology and geography that reframes the city not just as a place to live, but as a machine for increasing property values, driven by a coalition of elite interests.
Technical Expertise
Geospatial Technologies
This is one of my favourite things to dive into. Google earth/maps are the best starting point to just browse global spatial data, have a roam and see where it takes me. For building specific projects, I use QGIS and ArcGIS for detailed mapping, or python packages like geopandas and shapely for more complex spatial analysis.
Machine Learning & AI
I used to run a lot of machine learning projects at uni, with some pretty interesting geospatial data sets. Now, I mostly build ai api integrations to help on some super niche parts of a saas project, and then run ml on the data i collect. I use Python tools like pandas and NumPy for data, and scikit-learn for common machine learning tasks. For deeper learning, I work with PyTorch, Keras, and TensorFlow, and I use R for statistical analysis. Jupyter notebooks are great for experimenting with all of this.
Data Visualization
I love taking raw data and turning it into clear, engaging visuals. In the traditional working world i build dashboards with Power BI and Tableau to make complex information easy to understand. I also use advanced Excel to manipulate data and create presentations that help people make good decisions. Now, i'm building custom dashboards with react and tailwindcss to make data more accessible and interactive.
Financial Modelling
I've built many financial models to help with real estate investment decisions, forecasting etc... and some business planning and investment decisions. I use Excel and Python to project financial performance, analyze cash flow, and figure out the best ways to allocate resources. My goal is to create clear models that help navigate financial complexities.
Frontend Architecture
I spend some time building web interfaces with React and Next.js mainly, making sure everything feels smooth and works well. I'm imporoving on UI/UX, but still have a lot to learn.
Backend Engineering
On the backend, I mostly use Node.js and Express for APIs, and Python for handling data. I'm comfortable with both SQL (like PostgreSQL) and NoSQL (like MongoDB) databases, and I design APIs to be scalable and efficient. I use supabase, google cloud platform, microsoft azure; and vercel for hosting and deployment.
Articles
Article Coming Soon
Coming Soon
I'm currently working on some interesting articles about technology, geography, and the intersection of different fields. Check back soon for new content!
Drop me a message
Want to explore if we could work on something together?
or, do you just want to ask me a question? That's perfect.
I'll get back to you within 24hrs.