Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation
Graduate and Professional Training Courses
At the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, VA, USA
Visit our Website at
<http://SMconservation.gmu.edu>http://SMconservation.gmu.edu
for more course details and for instructions on
how to apply. The course below will be held in a
brand-new sustainably built Academic Quad,
including new classrooms, dining commons and residential facility.
Spatial Ecology, Geospatial Analysis and Remote Sensing for Conservation
September 15-26, 2014 A few spots remainÂapply today!
Our world is changing rapidly. Many changes occur
across areas and time periods beyond everyday
human perception, often going undetected,
sometimes with catastrophic consequences.
Satellite imagery, computer-based modeling, and
mapping systems such as GIS have radically
transformed our ability to detect, map, and model
such changes. These geospatial technologies allow
us to monitor natural biological systems. New
advances in spatial ecology permit us to put
these data in the context of our ecological
understanding and to generalize these patterns to
advance ecological theories and their
applications. Taken together these disciplines
and techniques give conservation biologists and
practitioners a powerful new tool box. This
course provides a comprehensive overview of these
disciplines and tools and includes hand-on
exercises ranging from land cover mapping and
home range analysis to modeling of habitat
selection and mapping species distributions.
Specifically, this course focuses on how to
quantify human-induced global changes and their
effects on wildlife and biodiversity. Instruction
and labs use satellite remote sensing and GIS in
connection with extensive field survey data to
monitor global changes, assess their impacts on
wild populations, and develop mitigating land use
strategies. This applied course is focused on
addressing conservation research problems using
the GIS toolbox. Participants will learn to use
ArcMap, ArcMap Spatial Analyst, ERDAS Imagine,
Fragstats, and other spatial analysis
programs. <http://SMconservation.gmu.edu>http://SMconservation.gmu.edu
