This past week I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Society for Conservation GIS Conference at Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, California. Not only did I get the chance to see California Condors in Big Sur and check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but I also gave my first oral presentation of my Masters research! The title of my presentation was "Non-breeding movements and habitat use of Whooping Cranes using satellite telemetry". I had the pleasure of talking with other researchers about cranes, habitat use, endangered species, and spatial conservation techniques. | Me on the big stage giving my presentation! |
The conference was a huge success. There were many scientists presenting their conservation research from all over the world. I learned about native fishes of the western United States, Chimpanzee habitat suitability modeling, mapping conflicts of interest in Slovenia, the cerrado biome of Brazil, fish conservation in Tanzania and Mexico, among many other things.
I also had the surprising opportunity to reconnect with a friend I met at the International Crane Foundation, Dmitrii Sarychev from Russia! Dmitrii is now studying the distribution of endangered species (including cranes) in his region of Russia to optimize the establishment of protected areas. It was great to see Dmitrii, learn about cranes in another part of the world, share ideas, and brainstorm conservation strategies using spatial tools in GIS.
I also had the surprising opportunity to reconnect with a friend I met at the International Crane Foundation, Dmitrii Sarychev from Russia! Dmitrii is now studying the distribution of endangered species (including cranes) in his region of Russia to optimize the establishment of protected areas. It was great to see Dmitrii, learn about cranes in another part of the world, share ideas, and brainstorm conservation strategies using spatial tools in GIS.
Dmitrii and I on the last day of the conference.