2023 Workshops | March 21; 1:30 - 5:30 PM
We’re pleased to offer the following high-quality half-day workshops on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 from 1:30 PM - 5:30 PM. Thank you to the workshop organizers for their efforts to provide these additional educational opportunities with an emphasis on a specific skill, technique, or process.
Pre-registration and additional fees are required for participation in all workshops. Sign up will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis via the online registration form. The fee to attend will be $40 per person, however students will be eligible to enroll in one complimentary workshop.
Pre-registration and additional fees are required for participation in all workshops. Sign up will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis via the online registration form. The fee to attend will be $40 per person, however students will be eligible to enroll in one complimentary workshop.
W-01: Becoming an Enlightened Consultant
Contact: Tom Hilditch, President, Colucent Environmental Inc., tom@colucentenvironmental.com
Overview:
This practical and innovative workshop draws upon Tom’s book, Becoming an Enlightened Consultant, Awakened by Cancer (Friesen Press 2022). It is geared toward consultants in different stages of their careers: those just beginning, those who want to improve how they mindfully move through their careers, those looking to find and implement an effective exit strategy, and buyers and sellers of firms.
Audience: This workshop will appeal to consultants in a range of disciplines including landscape ecology, planning, law and cultural studies. It will also be useful to those who work with and regulate the work of consultants. It is geared toward consultants in different stages of their careers.
Contact: Tom Hilditch, President, Colucent Environmental Inc., tom@colucentenvironmental.com
Overview:
This practical and innovative workshop draws upon Tom’s book, Becoming an Enlightened Consultant, Awakened by Cancer (Friesen Press 2022). It is geared toward consultants in different stages of their careers: those just beginning, those who want to improve how they mindfully move through their careers, those looking to find and implement an effective exit strategy, and buyers and sellers of firms.
- Part One of this workshop explains the basics of the consulting industry and speaks to the role of individual and collective self-awareness in a firm and how they determine success. Self-awareness allows us to see and to manage our egos in a way that improves outcomes. This workshop provides predictions regarding leading industry trends and emerging markets. Each workshop attendee will better understand how to apply their own exploration into self-awareness, in a way that will transform their own and their company’s performance.
- Part Two provides more practical nuts-and-bolts information about the consulting industry today, types of consulting firms and projects, and the range of clients in the consulting market. It will offer important insights into strategic positioning and brand differentiation. billing rates, profit margins and valuations. Attendees will explore a transdisciplinary approach that integrates ecosystems. It also explores how human and cultural health is essential to our ability to improve consulting outcomes and to inspire and lead team members and firms to work intelligently and respectfully with their clients.
Audience: This workshop will appeal to consultants in a range of disciplines including landscape ecology, planning, law and cultural studies. It will also be useful to those who work with and regulate the work of consultants. It is geared toward consultants in different stages of their careers.
W-02: Accessible coding methods for gathering social media datasets to assess landscapes
Contact: Nathan Fox, Research Fellow, University of Michigan, foxnat@umich.edu
Co-Organizers: Derek Van Berkel - University of Michigan; Mark Lindquist - University of Michigan
Overview:
Social media datasets have started to be recognized as an important source of data for environmental and sustainability studies. These datasets, including images, text and videos, can overcome issues of traditional data collection methods by being relatively time-extensive and inexpensive to collect. However, as data from social media sites is mainly accessed through advanced coding methods, this limits access for non-data-scientists. During this workshop we will present a hands-on workflow for obtaining social media posts from the websites Flickr and Reddit with the R environment. Participants of the workshop will require no previous coding experience and will be walked through the simplified methods of obtaining the valuable datasets from beginning to end. Finally, the workshop will demonstrate additional approaches to using these datasets for landscape scale studies such as assessing ecosystem services and species distributions.
Audience: All are welcome - the workshop will cover the basics before moving on to advanced methods
Bring own device: Yes
Contact: Nathan Fox, Research Fellow, University of Michigan, foxnat@umich.edu
Co-Organizers: Derek Van Berkel - University of Michigan; Mark Lindquist - University of Michigan
Overview:
Social media datasets have started to be recognized as an important source of data for environmental and sustainability studies. These datasets, including images, text and videos, can overcome issues of traditional data collection methods by being relatively time-extensive and inexpensive to collect. However, as data from social media sites is mainly accessed through advanced coding methods, this limits access for non-data-scientists. During this workshop we will present a hands-on workflow for obtaining social media posts from the websites Flickr and Reddit with the R environment. Participants of the workshop will require no previous coding experience and will be walked through the simplified methods of obtaining the valuable datasets from beginning to end. Finally, the workshop will demonstrate additional approaches to using these datasets for landscape scale studies such as assessing ecosystem services and species distributions.
Audience: All are welcome - the workshop will cover the basics before moving on to advanced methods
Bring own device: Yes
W-03: Developing a species distribution modeling workflow using the flexsdm R package
Contact: Brooke Rose, PhD Candidate, University of California Riverside, mrose048@ucr.edu
Overview:
Species distribution models (SDM) are widely used in a variety of ecological research areas because of simple data requirements and broad applicability. These models allow us to estimate species’ current range limits and make predictions about potential ranges in other geographic areas and/or time periods. However, SDM outcomes are sensitive to data inputs and methodological choices, so developing a comprehensive workflow can be challenging. The flexsdm R package allows users to define complete or partial modeling workflows that are specific to the user’s modeling situation, guiding them through the various stages of modeling. This package includes tools that are structured in three modeling steps: 1) Pre-modeling functions that help users prepare input data, including sampling bias correction, sampling pseudo-absences and background points, data partitioning, and handling collinearity among predictor variables. 2) Modeling functions involve fitting and evaluating different modeling techniques, allowing users to incorporate individual algorithms, tuned models, and ensemble models in their workflows. 3) Post-modeling functions enable users to fine-tune their results based on their goals, including correcting model overprediction and exploring extrapolation. Additionally, flexsdm provides modeling flexibility and produces objects that are easily integrated with other modeling tools and are easily explored to help users understand how modeling decisions influence model results. In this workshop, we will demonstrate the key features of the flexsdm R package and demonstrate its applications through a modeling workflow case study using plants in California. This workshop is aimed towards graduate students or anyone interested in learning more about developing a SDM workflow in R.
Audience: students/anyone interested in species distribution modeling; should have basic skills with R statistical software
Bring own device: Yes
Contact: Brooke Rose, PhD Candidate, University of California Riverside, mrose048@ucr.edu
Overview:
Species distribution models (SDM) are widely used in a variety of ecological research areas because of simple data requirements and broad applicability. These models allow us to estimate species’ current range limits and make predictions about potential ranges in other geographic areas and/or time periods. However, SDM outcomes are sensitive to data inputs and methodological choices, so developing a comprehensive workflow can be challenging. The flexsdm R package allows users to define complete or partial modeling workflows that are specific to the user’s modeling situation, guiding them through the various stages of modeling. This package includes tools that are structured in three modeling steps: 1) Pre-modeling functions that help users prepare input data, including sampling bias correction, sampling pseudo-absences and background points, data partitioning, and handling collinearity among predictor variables. 2) Modeling functions involve fitting and evaluating different modeling techniques, allowing users to incorporate individual algorithms, tuned models, and ensemble models in their workflows. 3) Post-modeling functions enable users to fine-tune their results based on their goals, including correcting model overprediction and exploring extrapolation. Additionally, flexsdm provides modeling flexibility and produces objects that are easily integrated with other modeling tools and are easily explored to help users understand how modeling decisions influence model results. In this workshop, we will demonstrate the key features of the flexsdm R package and demonstrate its applications through a modeling workflow case study using plants in California. This workshop is aimed towards graduate students or anyone interested in learning more about developing a SDM workflow in R.
Audience: students/anyone interested in species distribution modeling; should have basic skills with R statistical software
Bring own device: Yes
W-04: Carbon Calculators as dynamic tools for investigating land use implications of national, regional and global net-zero transitions
Contact: Paisan Sukpanit, PhD student, Imperial College London, paisan.sukpanit14@imperial.ac.uk
Co-Organizers: Dr Jeremy Woods, Dr Onesmus Mwabonje, Victoria Hoare, William Brandreth, Riqi Zhang, and Aldulla Al Ishaq —Imperial College London
Overview:
Substantial changes to the global land use and land-use change dynamics are needed for the world to meet the ambitious climate and temperature targets. For example, any ‘surplus’ land induced by crop and forestry yield improvements at the intensive margin and reduced meat demand and hence production presents an opportunity for growing bioenergy or forests. But how much land for forests or for bioenergy cropping will be needed to achieve net-zero emissions? And will that amount of land be available if our dietary behaviour is not changed? Whilst there is a wide range of possible scenarios as answers to those questions, the Carbon Calculator (https://www.imperial.ac.uk/2050-calculator/) can be a tool to generate, estimate and visualise the outcomes of those scenarios.
The Carbon Calculator is a uniquely open, transparent and interactive model that allow the users to interrogate and visualise their selected pathways to achieve the climate targets. The tool has been developed for the global, regional, and national scales. Whilst now considered a mature approach, it continues to be adapted, modified and updated as well as adopted in many countries to support net-zero policymaking. In this workshop, we invite you to discuss the potential implications on land in various net-zero pathways across a range of spatial scales and geographies by introducing the Carbon Calculator as a tool to support our discussion, visualisation and derivation of possible futures and effective policy interventions for land in climate mitigation.
Audience: Anyone who have general ideas in the agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector. Also, general ideas on the climate targets would also be valuable in the discussion. However, the knowledge in these areas will be valuable but not required. No knowledge in particular software is needed.
Bring own device: Yes
Contact: Paisan Sukpanit, PhD student, Imperial College London, paisan.sukpanit14@imperial.ac.uk
Co-Organizers: Dr Jeremy Woods, Dr Onesmus Mwabonje, Victoria Hoare, William Brandreth, Riqi Zhang, and Aldulla Al Ishaq —Imperial College London
Overview:
Substantial changes to the global land use and land-use change dynamics are needed for the world to meet the ambitious climate and temperature targets. For example, any ‘surplus’ land induced by crop and forestry yield improvements at the intensive margin and reduced meat demand and hence production presents an opportunity for growing bioenergy or forests. But how much land for forests or for bioenergy cropping will be needed to achieve net-zero emissions? And will that amount of land be available if our dietary behaviour is not changed? Whilst there is a wide range of possible scenarios as answers to those questions, the Carbon Calculator (https://www.imperial.ac.uk/2050-calculator/) can be a tool to generate, estimate and visualise the outcomes of those scenarios.
The Carbon Calculator is a uniquely open, transparent and interactive model that allow the users to interrogate and visualise their selected pathways to achieve the climate targets. The tool has been developed for the global, regional, and national scales. Whilst now considered a mature approach, it continues to be adapted, modified and updated as well as adopted in many countries to support net-zero policymaking. In this workshop, we invite you to discuss the potential implications on land in various net-zero pathways across a range of spatial scales and geographies by introducing the Carbon Calculator as a tool to support our discussion, visualisation and derivation of possible futures and effective policy interventions for land in climate mitigation.
Audience: Anyone who have general ideas in the agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector. Also, general ideas on the climate targets would also be valuable in the discussion. However, the knowledge in these areas will be valuable but not required. No knowledge in particular software is needed.
Bring own device: Yes
