- (Public Value) UCANR: Protecting California's natural resources
- Author: Sean Hogan
- Author: Shane Feirer
IGIS was pleased to attend an excellent “Forest and Shrubland LiDAR Derived Products Workshop” jointly held by the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) and California Department of Conservation (DOC), on March 17th.
CNRA has a budget for supporting the development of useful/high value data products that can support forest and shrubland planning and management decisions, including for emergency response. In the interest of seeking feedback from experts and potential users of such data products across the state of California, the goal of this workshop was to gather information for prioritizing LiDAR derived products for fire, vegetation, biodiversity, hydrology, climate change, and public safety decisions in California's forests and shrublands.
The workshop began with an outstanding presentation by Dr. Nathaniel (Nate) Roth (DOC), which provided a brief introduction to LiDAR (light detection and ranging), and operation derived products of this technology. Kass Green and Mark Tukman, from Tukman Geospatial, then presented several excellent use case examples of LiDAR in California, including for: topographic and hydrologic mapping, fine scale vegetation mapping, forest health and management, and vegetation/fuel mapping for forest fire planning and assessing impacts. Next came another impressive presentation by David (DJ) Bandrowski from the Yurok Tribe Fisheries Department, which cited multiple examples of how LiDAR and aerial imagery have been used for management and restoration of forest ecosystems within the Klamath River Basin. These examples include for: Sediment flux, transport and change following dam removal, point cloud classifications of vegetation vs. bare ground, designing and modeling river systems for planning and assessment, and finally for construction projects.
The workshop concluded with a series of surveys, conducted in ESRI's Survey 123 application, to assess and prioritize the needs of the 179 attendees at the workshop, as a representative sample of prospective users. The results of these surveys will undoubtedly be used to steer the allocation of funds provided to CNRA by the California State Legislature to have the most efficient and valuable impacts possible.
A great thanks is owed to Dr. Nathaniel (Nate) Roth, and all the people at DOC and CNRA, for hosting this workshop, as well as the outstanding contributors from Tukman Geospatial and the Yurok Tribe.
Sean Hogan and Shane Feirer
University of California
Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Informatics and GIS Statewide Program
- Author: Nina Maggi Kelly
Annie Taylor, UC Berkeley PhD student and IGIS GSR has been awarded no less than 3(!) new grants to fund her PhD research. Congrats to Annie! The awards are:
- Research Grant from Joseph A. Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues
- Natalie Hopkins Award and Grant from the California Native Plant Society
- Sally Casey Research Scholarship from the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society
Stay tuned for more about her work.
- Author: Maggi Kelly
- Author: Hannah Lopez
In February of 2020, IGIS welcomed a new student worker to the IGIS team. Hannah Lopez, an undergraduate at UC Berkeley majoring in Forestry and GIS, joined IGIS during the final semester of her senior year. As a student, she supported the IGIS Service Center by compiling a database of California field stations, developing future IGIS workshops, and creating custom cartography for IGIS clients. After graduating with a degree in Ecosystem Management and Forestry and a minor in Geospatial Information Science and Technology, Hannah joined IGIS full-time for the summer and fall of 2020.
Hannah worked with us on a variety of projects. She helped us with our expanded virtual IGIS DroneCamp 2020, including curating and publishing a YouTube playlist that includes all the workshops, lectures, and guest presentations from the 4 day virtual program. Check it out! She also gained hands-on drone experience while working in Winters, California, on a socially-distanced project with Sean Hogan. They flew the Putah Creek channel to help with a project examining bank erosion over time. See her below in action!
She also collaborated with folks from the California Public Utilities Commission and US Department of Agriculture to develop a web mapping application and story map that highlights areas in California that are eligible for funding assistance for broadband installation. After gaining experience with Esri's new StoryMap Builder while working on this project, Hannah went on to develop custom StoryMap templates for IGIS clients and has developed an IGIS workshop on this topic. Stay tuned!
Hannah is leaving the IGIS team in mid-October to begin her work with the Contra Costa and Alameda County Resource Conservation Districts as a Wildfire Conservation Coordinator. We wish her all the best and look forward to her success in her new job!
