Conservation GIS Lab

Exploring and Sharing the Socioecological Value of Virginia's Scenic Assets

Partner: Scenic Virginia

Scenic Virginia is a conservation non-profit dedicated to the conservation, protection, and enhancement of the scenic beauty of Virginia, which is linked to the ecological, emotional, spiritual, cultural, and economic health of Virginia. Contributing to Scenic Virginia's “Treasured Views” Initiative, a team of W&M students will use GIS to explore the ecological and sociocultural value of Virginia's treasured viewsheds to our diverse communities, to expand the engagement of community groups in viewshed conservation, to map the most popular viewsheds, and to share the story of Virginia's scenic assets through a StoryMap. This is a great opportunity for students to integrate GIS, social science, photography, and storytelling skills to explore the various ways that our community values Virginia's scenic viewsheds.

Need: Two students with GIS, photography, and storytelling skills

Advancing Conservation with the Rotokas People of Central Bougainville, Papua New Guinea

Partner: Rotokas Conservation Initiative, Lubee Bat Conservancy and with support from faculty mentor David Waldien, Biology

The Kunua Plains & Mount Balbi Key Biodiversity Area (>76,000 ha) of Central Bougainville was established in 2012 by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund as part of an initiative to proactively catalyze conservation of areas throughout East Melanesia important to biodiversity; local government and Indigenous clans were not consulted in the process. In 2013, the Rotokas People of Central Bougainville launched a collaborative initiative with Dr. Dave Waldien to establish a conservation plan for the region informed by clanship boundaries, Indigenous knowledge and values, and biodiversity of the region.

A W&M student will work with the Rotokas Conservation Initiative and others to build upon the initial field mapping efforts of the People to compile existing data on habitat and biodiversity from online sources (e.g., satellite imagery, biodiversity databases, and published literature) to update mapping for the conservation plan. The updated map will be used to inform the development of an updated proposal redefining the Kunua Plains and Mount Balbi Key Biodiversity Area and to the develop an effective poster conveying the major components of the conservation plan that can be easily distributed to remote communities. It will also serve as a model for scaling this community-led initiative throughout Bougainville Island, ensuring that the rights and values of the Indigenous clans are enshrined as a foundation informing conservation of Bougainville’s cultures and biodiversity.

Need: One student with advanced GIS skills

Temporal changes in Characteristics of Chukchi and Beaufort Sea Coastal Lagoons and Effects on Water Chemistry, Fish Assemblages, and Subsistence Harvest Activities

Partner: Wildlife Conservation Society

Chukchi and Beaufort Sea coastal lagoons are important habitats for unique assemblages of fishes, birds, and marine mammals. Many of these animals are vital to the food security of rural and Indigenous residents of the region. However, climate change and human impacts on coastal Arctic habitats such as coastal erosion, warming waters, increased storm frequency, and construction disrupt human access to resources, weaken ecosystem resiliency, and threaten the sustainability of fish stocks. Identifying changes in habitat characteristics and how they may influence fish ecology will allow for predictions of shifts in fish abundance and availability in response to these threats, and may help illuminate strategies for responding to negative impacts. Given this, further study is needed at a wider spatial scale to clearly establish changes to the physical layout, freshwater input, ocean connectivity, and ice-free season length of coastal Arctic lagoons and the potential effects on fishes, other animals that occupy these habitats, and subsistence harvesters that utilize them. To accomplish this, we propose to use Sentinel-2 and other available sources of daily-weekly temporal resolution satellite imagery from 2016-2024 to 1) Characterize Chukchi and Beaufort Sea coastal lagoon frequency of marine connectivity and duration of connectivity, 2) Identify and/or quantify changes in lagoon surface area and location of marine connection over time, and 3) Identify ice-free season length. Additionally, freshwater input to lagoons will be measured. Results will be analyzed and summarized in the context of climate change, available lagoon water chemistry and fish assemblage structure data, and access to lagoons for rural and Indigenous subsistence harvesters.

Need: Two students with GIS and remote sensing skills

Improving Historical Imagery Access of the Capital Region of Virginia

Partner: Captial Region Land Conservancy

This project would help improve our access to historical aerial imagery for the Richmond, Virginia area. This project was inspired by a historical imagery viewer created by the University of Virginia for Albemarle County. In that project, students sourced aerial imagery from the US Department of Agriculture, which has collected imagery of the entire Chesapeake Watershed every 10 to 20 years since 1937. As it stands, historical aerial imagery available via Google Earth only goes back to 2002. We are hopeful that this project will allow us to see further back than what Google imagery currently allows. This project will take several semesters to complete and will cover all the counties in our service area, including Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, and Powhatan as well as the Town of Ashland and City of Richmond. CRLC plans to use this aerial imagery to better understand historical land use changes in our area, support conservation and ecological restoration efforts, and facilitate meaningful conversations about how we use the land.

Need: Two students with GIS skills

Creating a StoryMap focused on Rewilding at American Prairie

Partner: American Prairie Reserve

American Prairie invites students with an interest in rewilding, conservation, communications, and mapping skills to help us update and improve upon an award-winning StoryMap created by our former GIS specialist. Esri StoryMaps are a powerful tool that can help American Prairie advance its mission, but we currently lack capacity to make full use of the tool. The StoryMap will engage audiences in an exploration of the ways that American Prairie, landowners, and communities work together to restore biodiversity to the grassland landscapes of Montana.

Need: One student with GIS and storytelling skills

Building a StoryMap to Share the Story of the Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network

Partner: Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network

Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network conserves threatened wildlife while contributing to the economic vitality of rural communities. They use the power of the marketplace to create on-the-ground change by offering opportunities for people in often rural and disadvantaged communities and we enable conservation of intact landscapes critical to the provision of ecosystem services. A W&M student will work with the Wildlife Friendly Enterprise to develop an engaging and informative StoryMap that will help them broaden their network and raise awareness about the work that they are doing to conserve biodiversity and support livelihoods. 

Need: One student with GIS and storytelling skills

Mapping Land Uses and Land Use Change in the Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary to Support Community Conservation Efforts in Ghana

Partner: Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary and Dr. Enoch Gyamfi-Ampadu, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

The Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary is found in the Nkoranza North District of the Brong East Region, Ghana. The sanctuary (forest) covers an estimated area of 4.5 km² and serves as a habitat for Mona and the Black and White Colobus monkeys who co-exist with the community members. In order to improve and support its conservation, the project aims to use Remote Sensing and GIS modelling/analysis to map the forest, communities and other adjacent land uses and ascertain the spatial and temporal changes, their distributions as well as the transitions among them.

Need: Two students with GIS and remote sensing skills

Exploring Land Cover and Land Use Change in the Sacred Grove of the Tafi-Atome Monkey Sanctuary in Ghana to Support Community Conservation

Partner: Tafi-Atome Monkey Sanctuary and Dr. Enoch Gyamfi-Ampadu, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

The Tafi-Atome Monkey Sanctuary is a sacred grove and a traditional conservation area backed by statutory enforcement in cooperation with local communities. It is in the Volta Region of Ghana and is home to Mona and Patas monkeys found in a remnant patch of forests that have survived fire and human disturbance around the village. This proposed project will aim to carry out a spatial-temporal land cover land use change analysis through Remote Sensing and GIS technology to provide spatially explicit information that will enhance the effective conservation of the sacred groove.

Need: Two students with GIS and remote sensing skills