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2019 ARCHIVES: Workshops
The following workshops will be offered at the 2019 US-IALE Annual Meeting. Please note: pre-registration and additional fees are required for all workshops. Pricing is as follows:
- Half Day Workshops: $35 each
- Full Day Workshop: $60 (lunch is on your own)
Tuesday, April 9, 2019 | 1:30 pm - 5:30 pm (Half-Day Workshops)
(W1) Design and Implementation of HexSim Models for Landscape Ecology and Conservation
LOCATION: Hilton Fort Collins: Rams
Presenters: Nathan Schumaker, US EPA; Julie Heinrichs, Colorado State University
Overview: HexSim is a powerful and versatile spatially-explicit, individual-based, modeling environment popular in landscape ecology, conservation biology, and other disciplines. This workshop will provide an opportunity for participants to work directly with HexSim’s developers on simulation models designed to meet their own research needs. The workshop will begin with a brief overview of unique HexSim features that distinguish it from other available software. Participants are expected to gain some facility with HexSim prior to the workshop, by downloading the software and reviewing online tutorials. Participants should come to the workshop with a laptop computer running Windows, a project idea, and example data for their system. Those wanting more specific feedback on their model should come with a previously assembled HexSim workspace.
Intended Audience: Students and professionals with an interest in simulation model development
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device
LOCATION: Hilton Fort Collins: Rams
Presenters: Nathan Schumaker, US EPA; Julie Heinrichs, Colorado State University
Overview: HexSim is a powerful and versatile spatially-explicit, individual-based, modeling environment popular in landscape ecology, conservation biology, and other disciplines. This workshop will provide an opportunity for participants to work directly with HexSim’s developers on simulation models designed to meet their own research needs. The workshop will begin with a brief overview of unique HexSim features that distinguish it from other available software. Participants are expected to gain some facility with HexSim prior to the workshop, by downloading the software and reviewing online tutorials. Participants should come to the workshop with a laptop computer running Windows, a project idea, and example data for their system. Those wanting more specific feedback on their model should come with a previously assembled HexSim workspace.
Intended Audience: Students and professionals with an interest in simulation model development
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device
(W2) FUTURES Land-change Modeling for Evaluating Innovative Conservation Scenarios
LOCATION: Hilton Fort Collins: Salon IV
Presenters: Georgina M. Sanchez, NC State University; Brian R. Pickard, Environmental Defense Fund
Co-Organizers: Georgina M. Sanchez, NC State University; Anna Petrasova, NC State University; Vaclav Petras, NC State University; Brian R. Pickard, Environmental Defense Fund; Fancesco Tonini, Michigan State University; Ross K. Meentemeyer, NC State University
Overview: Land use trade-offs often arise when social and ecological needs result in landscapes with high development and conservation value. Simulating scenarios of land change can help natural resource managers create adaptive planning strategies for protecting land. In this workshop, we introduce the FUTure Urban - Regional Environment Simulation framework (FUTURES) - a fully open source, multi-level, spatio-temporal land change model that is run through a suite of modules in GRASS GIS. In FUTURES, a population DEMAND sub-model and a development POTENTIAL sub-model interact to simulate the quantity, type and location of land change, while a dynamic patch-growing algorithm (PGA sub-model) simulates land change based on the spatial structure (size and shape) of historical trends. Workshop participants will learn basic modeling concepts and data requirements to apply FUTURES. Hands-on exercises will guide participants through the FUTURES simulation workflow, including data collection, calibration, validation, and visualization of simulation scenarios. Familiarity with GIS and state-transition modeling concepts is required.
Intended Audience: Students or professionals. Familiarity with GIS and state-transition modeling concepts is required.
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device
LOCATION: Hilton Fort Collins: Salon IV
Presenters: Georgina M. Sanchez, NC State University; Brian R. Pickard, Environmental Defense Fund
Co-Organizers: Georgina M. Sanchez, NC State University; Anna Petrasova, NC State University; Vaclav Petras, NC State University; Brian R. Pickard, Environmental Defense Fund; Fancesco Tonini, Michigan State University; Ross K. Meentemeyer, NC State University
Overview: Land use trade-offs often arise when social and ecological needs result in landscapes with high development and conservation value. Simulating scenarios of land change can help natural resource managers create adaptive planning strategies for protecting land. In this workshop, we introduce the FUTure Urban - Regional Environment Simulation framework (FUTURES) - a fully open source, multi-level, spatio-temporal land change model that is run through a suite of modules in GRASS GIS. In FUTURES, a population DEMAND sub-model and a development POTENTIAL sub-model interact to simulate the quantity, type and location of land change, while a dynamic patch-growing algorithm (PGA sub-model) simulates land change based on the spatial structure (size and shape) of historical trends. Workshop participants will learn basic modeling concepts and data requirements to apply FUTURES. Hands-on exercises will guide participants through the FUTURES simulation workflow, including data collection, calibration, validation, and visualization of simulation scenarios. Familiarity with GIS and state-transition modeling concepts is required.
Intended Audience: Students or professionals. Familiarity with GIS and state-transition modeling concepts is required.
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device
(W3) Optimizing Landscape Resistance Surfaces Using ResistanceGA
LOCATION: Hilton Fort Collins: Legends
Presenters: William Peterman, The Ohio State University; Kristopher Winiarski, University of Waterloo
Overview: Understanding how landscape features affect gene flow has implications for numerous fields including conservation biology, epidemiology, and evolutionary and molecular ecology. Despite this importance, objective quantification and assessment of landscape resistance has remained a significant challenge. From its inception, an allure of landscape genetics has been the potential to use spatial genetic data to determine how landscape features affect gene flow. However, landscape genetics has struggled to identify a rigorous and coherent framework for conducting landscape resistance analyses. Most current approaches for optimizing landscape resistance values rely on some combination of expert opinion, a limited search of parameter space, or advanced coding skills. The recently developed R package ResistanceGA overcomes many of the challenges faced by researchers seeking to determine how landscape features affect movement and gene flow. ResistanceGA provides user-friendly functions for optimizing landscape resistance surfaces using pairwise genetic data, as well as a coherent framework for conducting model selection. This half day workshop will provide a brief overview of landscape resistance modeling in the context of landscape genetics, followed by detailed coverage of how to use ResistanceGA to optimize landscape resistance surfaces. Workshop attendees will get extensive hands-on experience using ResistanceGA functions, conducting analyses, and interpreting results. To get the most out of this workshop, attendees should have a working knowledge of R.
Intended Audience: Landscape Genetics researchers; Working knowledge of R (Intermediate)
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device
LOCATION: Hilton Fort Collins: Legends
Presenters: William Peterman, The Ohio State University; Kristopher Winiarski, University of Waterloo
Overview: Understanding how landscape features affect gene flow has implications for numerous fields including conservation biology, epidemiology, and evolutionary and molecular ecology. Despite this importance, objective quantification and assessment of landscape resistance has remained a significant challenge. From its inception, an allure of landscape genetics has been the potential to use spatial genetic data to determine how landscape features affect gene flow. However, landscape genetics has struggled to identify a rigorous and coherent framework for conducting landscape resistance analyses. Most current approaches for optimizing landscape resistance values rely on some combination of expert opinion, a limited search of parameter space, or advanced coding skills. The recently developed R package ResistanceGA overcomes many of the challenges faced by researchers seeking to determine how landscape features affect movement and gene flow. ResistanceGA provides user-friendly functions for optimizing landscape resistance surfaces using pairwise genetic data, as well as a coherent framework for conducting model selection. This half day workshop will provide a brief overview of landscape resistance modeling in the context of landscape genetics, followed by detailed coverage of how to use ResistanceGA to optimize landscape resistance surfaces. Workshop attendees will get extensive hands-on experience using ResistanceGA functions, conducting analyses, and interpreting results. To get the most out of this workshop, attendees should have a working knowledge of R.
Intended Audience: Landscape Genetics researchers; Working knowledge of R (Intermediate)
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device
(W4) Status and Trends in Landscape Fragmentation
LOCATION: Hilton Fort Collins: Salon III
Presenter: Peter Vogt, European Commission, Joint Research Centre
Overview: The adequate monitoring and assessment of landscape fragmentation is of high importance for the design and evaluation of ecological programs, conservation studies and landscape management in general. Fragmentation is often reported as a purely descriptive measure, conducted for a given species and accounting for species-specific habitat requirements. However, a given landscape will exhibit a different degree of fragmentation depending on the species under study and its operational scale. The scope of this workshop is to illustrate ways for a generic measure of fragmentation, summarizing a multitude of patch attributes over a series of observation scales. The multi-scale fragmentation analysis provides spatially explicit maps and summary statistics showing the degree of fragmentation in six categories: intact, interior, dominant, transitional, patchy and rare. Fragmentation can also be assessed and summarized across different land cover classes including trend analysis showing gross gain and loss, net change and degree and dominance of human impacts. The quantitative assessment of land cover properties forms the base for habitat monitoring and conservation planning.The workshop will provide a feature overview and outline the added value of the multi-scale land cover analysis schemes. Workshop participants will conduct hands-on exercises on provided sample data sets to learn using the software and discuss the various processing options within the free software GuidosToolbox.
Intended Audience: Students, landscape ecologists, landscape planners, digital data analysts
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device
LOCATION: Hilton Fort Collins: Salon III
Presenter: Peter Vogt, European Commission, Joint Research Centre
Overview: The adequate monitoring and assessment of landscape fragmentation is of high importance for the design and evaluation of ecological programs, conservation studies and landscape management in general. Fragmentation is often reported as a purely descriptive measure, conducted for a given species and accounting for species-specific habitat requirements. However, a given landscape will exhibit a different degree of fragmentation depending on the species under study and its operational scale. The scope of this workshop is to illustrate ways for a generic measure of fragmentation, summarizing a multitude of patch attributes over a series of observation scales. The multi-scale fragmentation analysis provides spatially explicit maps and summary statistics showing the degree of fragmentation in six categories: intact, interior, dominant, transitional, patchy and rare. Fragmentation can also be assessed and summarized across different land cover classes including trend analysis showing gross gain and loss, net change and degree and dominance of human impacts. The quantitative assessment of land cover properties forms the base for habitat monitoring and conservation planning.The workshop will provide a feature overview and outline the added value of the multi-scale land cover analysis schemes. Workshop participants will conduct hands-on exercises on provided sample data sets to learn using the software and discuss the various processing options within the free software GuidosToolbox.
Intended Audience: Students, landscape ecologists, landscape planners, digital data analysts
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device
(W5) Telecoupling Toolbox: Integrated Cloud-based Tools for Sustainability Science
LOCATION: Hilton Fort Collins: Salon VI
Presenters: Francesco Tonini, Michigan State University; Paul McCord, Michigan State University; Jianguo (Jack) Liu, Michigan State University
Overview: Global sustainability challenges – landscape fragmentation, loss of species habitat, water shortage, chronic hunger, and the continuing rise of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities – are increasingly influenced by distant forces. Urban demand for farm products may cause habitat loss in a remote region half the world away. Smallholder farmers may suffer water shortages caused by expanding demands from population booms in distant cities. These are examples of telecouplings (http://www.telecoupling.org) — socioeconomic and environmental interactions over distances — and while they have become ubiquitous in our globalized world, tools to better understand them and combat potential detrimental outcomes have been lacking. Telecouplings have profound implications for landscape sustainability as they can transform landscape structure, function, pattern, process, and dynamics. In this workshop, we will introduce the telecoupling framework, present applications of the framework, and conduct hands-on exercises with the Telecoupling GeoApp, a cloud-based application with a large collection of mapping and analysis tools to systematically study sustainability issues for telecoupled systems. Workshop participants will have an opportunity to apply the framework and cloud-based tools to a number of case studies such as global trade of agricultural products, tourism in nature reserves, impact of shipping traffic on arctic wildlife habitat, and dynamics of land-use change resulting from payments for ecosystem services.
Intended Audience: Students, postdocs, professionals. Beginner and intermediate
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device
LOCATION: Hilton Fort Collins: Salon VI
Presenters: Francesco Tonini, Michigan State University; Paul McCord, Michigan State University; Jianguo (Jack) Liu, Michigan State University
Overview: Global sustainability challenges – landscape fragmentation, loss of species habitat, water shortage, chronic hunger, and the continuing rise of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities – are increasingly influenced by distant forces. Urban demand for farm products may cause habitat loss in a remote region half the world away. Smallholder farmers may suffer water shortages caused by expanding demands from population booms in distant cities. These are examples of telecouplings (http://www.telecoupling.org) — socioeconomic and environmental interactions over distances — and while they have become ubiquitous in our globalized world, tools to better understand them and combat potential detrimental outcomes have been lacking. Telecouplings have profound implications for landscape sustainability as they can transform landscape structure, function, pattern, process, and dynamics. In this workshop, we will introduce the telecoupling framework, present applications of the framework, and conduct hands-on exercises with the Telecoupling GeoApp, a cloud-based application with a large collection of mapping and analysis tools to systematically study sustainability issues for telecoupled systems. Workshop participants will have an opportunity to apply the framework and cloud-based tools to a number of case studies such as global trade of agricultural products, tourism in nature reserves, impact of shipping traffic on arctic wildlife habitat, and dynamics of land-use change resulting from payments for ecosystem services.
Intended Audience: Students, postdocs, professionals. Beginner and intermediate
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device
(W6) Using GIS Techniques to Visualize and Analyze Environmental Time-Series Data
LOCATION: Hilton Fort Collins: Green & Gold
Presenters: Richard Koehler, Ph.D., PH, CEO Visual Data Analytics, LLC
Overview: Do you need to translate your time-based data into easy to digest graphs for managers, researchers, funding agencies, and students alike? Learn to use GIS techniques for visualizing and analyzing time-series data to make it easier to communicate your results. This workshop provides the user with GIS-based techniques to visualization and quantify temporal patterns and changes over multiple timescales. The resulting raster graphic (a "geo-temporal map") can be interpreted much like a map, with patches and discontinuities representing seasonal and annual patterns. When multiple time-series layers are used, the layers are stacked and a GIS-like approach for conditional analysis is possible. The USGS Water Watch website uses this technique for visualizing streamflow data. See https://waterwatch.usgs.gov/?id=wwchart_rastergraph. This approach permits new insights into characteristics and disturbances of hydrologic properties and provides additional tools to natural resources professionals studying or managing the aquatic environment. Although the workshop focuses on hydrologic data, the same techniques can be used for any environmental time-series. The specific objectives of this workshop are to introduce participants to raster "time-maps", provide guidance to interpret temporal data patterns, and furnish instructions on how to format data, create plots, and conduct basic analyses of time-series data. A general demonstration of this methodology for the USGS streamgage Colorado River at Lees Ferry, AZ can be seen in the following YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUVPlfR0ioM
Intended Audience: Any natural resources professional (student, researcher, manager) who deals with observed or generated time-series data. A general background in GIS is helpful but not necessary.
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device
LOCATION: Hilton Fort Collins: Green & Gold
Presenters: Richard Koehler, Ph.D., PH, CEO Visual Data Analytics, LLC
Overview: Do you need to translate your time-based data into easy to digest graphs for managers, researchers, funding agencies, and students alike? Learn to use GIS techniques for visualizing and analyzing time-series data to make it easier to communicate your results. This workshop provides the user with GIS-based techniques to visualization and quantify temporal patterns and changes over multiple timescales. The resulting raster graphic (a "geo-temporal map") can be interpreted much like a map, with patches and discontinuities representing seasonal and annual patterns. When multiple time-series layers are used, the layers are stacked and a GIS-like approach for conditional analysis is possible. The USGS Water Watch website uses this technique for visualizing streamflow data. See https://waterwatch.usgs.gov/?id=wwchart_rastergraph. This approach permits new insights into characteristics and disturbances of hydrologic properties and provides additional tools to natural resources professionals studying or managing the aquatic environment. Although the workshop focuses on hydrologic data, the same techniques can be used for any environmental time-series. The specific objectives of this workshop are to introduce participants to raster "time-maps", provide guidance to interpret temporal data patterns, and furnish instructions on how to format data, create plots, and conduct basic analyses of time-series data. A general demonstration of this methodology for the USGS streamgage Colorado River at Lees Ferry, AZ can be seen in the following YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUVPlfR0ioM
Intended Audience: Any natural resources professional (student, researcher, manager) who deals with observed or generated time-series data. A general background in GIS is helpful but not necessary.
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device
Thursday, April 11, 2019 | 8:00 am - 12:00 pm (Half-Day Workshops)
(W7) Geospatial Modeling Approaches Using NASA Earth Observations in Google Earth Engine and R
LOCATION: Hilton Fort Collins: Green & Gold
Presenters: Daniel Carver, USDA Agricultural Research Service; Megs Seely, NASA DEVELOP Arizona Node; Dane Coats, NASA DEVELOP Idaho Node; Erika Higa, NASA DEVELOP Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Overview: The emergence of web-based processing environments such as Google Earth Engine (GEE) has greatly increased the accessibility to a wealth of remotely sensed imagery and datasets. As a result, the potential for utilizing these resources to address questions about landscape change through spatial modeling has become prevalent across various disciplines. Yet the effort needed to address the underlying assumptions and best practices of spatial modeling is still necessary in order to produce quality end products. The “Geospatial Modeling Approaches Using NASA Earth observations in Google Earth Engine and R” workshop training was created to both allow end users to quickly and efficiently engage with these platforms while gaining an understanding of a professional quality spatial modeling process to improve participant’s future work.Within this course, participants will use NASA Earth observations to produce detection models of a landcover class in GEE. This process will be supplemented with a variable selection process using the statistical programming language R. No experience with GEE in necessary. A basic understanding of R or similar programming language is recommended, but not required. Participants will leave the training with a series of supplemental material that will allow you to engage with this content beyond the conference.
Intended Audience: Students and Professionals Difficulty level: Beginner/Intermediate
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device
LOCATION: Hilton Fort Collins: Green & Gold
Presenters: Daniel Carver, USDA Agricultural Research Service; Megs Seely, NASA DEVELOP Arizona Node; Dane Coats, NASA DEVELOP Idaho Node; Erika Higa, NASA DEVELOP Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Overview: The emergence of web-based processing environments such as Google Earth Engine (GEE) has greatly increased the accessibility to a wealth of remotely sensed imagery and datasets. As a result, the potential for utilizing these resources to address questions about landscape change through spatial modeling has become prevalent across various disciplines. Yet the effort needed to address the underlying assumptions and best practices of spatial modeling is still necessary in order to produce quality end products. The “Geospatial Modeling Approaches Using NASA Earth observations in Google Earth Engine and R” workshop training was created to both allow end users to quickly and efficiently engage with these platforms while gaining an understanding of a professional quality spatial modeling process to improve participant’s future work.Within this course, participants will use NASA Earth observations to produce detection models of a landcover class in GEE. This process will be supplemented with a variable selection process using the statistical programming language R. No experience with GEE in necessary. A basic understanding of R or similar programming language is recommended, but not required. Participants will leave the training with a series of supplemental material that will allow you to engage with this content beyond the conference.
Intended Audience: Students and Professionals Difficulty level: Beginner/Intermediate
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device
(W8) LandSCaPeN: an Expansive Toolbox to Measure, Model, and Map Landscapes in Google Earth Engine
LOCATION: Hilton Fort Collins: Legends
Presenter: David Theobald, Conservation Science Partners
Overview: Recent advances in powerful computational platforms such as Cloud Computing offer great potential for landscape ecologists to analyze and visualize landscape patterns and dynamics. In this workshop, participants will be introduced to and will explore a new toolbox developed on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. The goal of the Landscape Structure, Composition, Process, and Networks (LandSCaPeN) toolbox is to tap the transformational advances in the computational platforms coupled with massive archives of remotely-sensed data. The tools (powered by scripts) contained in the LandSCaPeN toolbox help landscape ecologists to navigate and harness the expansive capabilities of GEE -- to understand landscapes over broader extents, for higher resolutions, at a greater precision, and with easy and rapid sharing of products among collaborators and partners.
Intended Audience: Students and professionals, intermediate difficulty -- basics of Google Earth Engine are a pre-requisite
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device
LOCATION: Hilton Fort Collins: Legends
Presenter: David Theobald, Conservation Science Partners
Overview: Recent advances in powerful computational platforms such as Cloud Computing offer great potential for landscape ecologists to analyze and visualize landscape patterns and dynamics. In this workshop, participants will be introduced to and will explore a new toolbox developed on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. The goal of the Landscape Structure, Composition, Process, and Networks (LandSCaPeN) toolbox is to tap the transformational advances in the computational platforms coupled with massive archives of remotely-sensed data. The tools (powered by scripts) contained in the LandSCaPeN toolbox help landscape ecologists to navigate and harness the expansive capabilities of GEE -- to understand landscapes over broader extents, for higher resolutions, at a greater precision, and with easy and rapid sharing of products among collaborators and partners.
Intended Audience: Students and professionals, intermediate difficulty -- basics of Google Earth Engine are a pre-requisite
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device
Thursday, April 11, 2019 | 8:00 am - 5:00 pm (Full-Day Workshop)
(W9) Statistical Models for Animal Movement
LOCATION: Colorado State University: CSU (note, this workshop is offsite)
Presenters: Mevin Hooten, USGS - Colorado State University; Devin Johnson, NOAA Brett McClintock, NOAA; Juan Morales, CONICET; Henry Scharf, Colorado State University
Overview: The study of animal movement has always been a key element in ecological science because it is inherently linked to critical processes that scale from individuals to populations and communities to ecosystems. Rapid improvements in biotelemetry data collection and processing technology have given rise to a variety of statistical methods for characterizing animal movement. This workshop provides an overview of the types of statistical models used to study individual-based animal movement based on telemetry data.This workshop on animal movement modeling is intended for wildlife biologists, quantitative ecologists, and spatial ecologists who seek a deeper understanding of modern animal movement models. In the workshop, we present a wide variety of modeling approaches using a consistent notation. We organize the models into groups based on how they treat the underlying spatio-temporal process of movement. The primary groups of models covered are: point process models, discrete-time models, and continuous-time models. We also highlight connections among approaches to facilitate a broader view of animal movement analysis and its associations with traditional spatial and temporal statistical modeling. The workshop will draw on examples and material from the recent textbook “Animal Movement: Statistical Models for Telemetry Data” written by the presenters.
Intended Audience: Students, professionals, and faculty; advanced material; participants should have working knowledge of R
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device
LOCATION: Colorado State University: CSU (note, this workshop is offsite)
Presenters: Mevin Hooten, USGS - Colorado State University; Devin Johnson, NOAA Brett McClintock, NOAA; Juan Morales, CONICET; Henry Scharf, Colorado State University
Overview: The study of animal movement has always been a key element in ecological science because it is inherently linked to critical processes that scale from individuals to populations and communities to ecosystems. Rapid improvements in biotelemetry data collection and processing technology have given rise to a variety of statistical methods for characterizing animal movement. This workshop provides an overview of the types of statistical models used to study individual-based animal movement based on telemetry data.This workshop on animal movement modeling is intended for wildlife biologists, quantitative ecologists, and spatial ecologists who seek a deeper understanding of modern animal movement models. In the workshop, we present a wide variety of modeling approaches using a consistent notation. We organize the models into groups based on how they treat the underlying spatio-temporal process of movement. The primary groups of models covered are: point process models, discrete-time models, and continuous-time models. We also highlight connections among approaches to facilitate a broader view of animal movement analysis and its associations with traditional spatial and temporal statistical modeling. The workshop will draw on examples and material from the recent textbook “Animal Movement: Statistical Models for Telemetry Data” written by the presenters.
Intended Audience: Students, professionals, and faculty; advanced material; participants should have working knowledge of R
This workshop is BYOD: bring your own device