The first chapter of my dissertation, 'Three decades of Landsat-derived spring surface water dynamics in an agricultural wetland mosaic; Implications for migratory shorebirds' is now available online. The paper is freely accessible until May 3, 2017. 

​The 2015-2016 Bass Connections in Global Health team, led by William Pan, assistant professor of global environmental health worked in the Moyobamba, Peru area on a study of leishmaniasis, an understudied tropical disease that disfigures those affected. 

Check out this and another study of malaria that the team worked on in Northeastern Peru. 

Efforts to protect rare species are often limited by insufficient biological and ecological data. For regions of active environmental change, connectivity models and habitat patch characteristics may provide an alternative source of data to inform further study and conservation actions. For the San Martin titi monkey (Callicebus oenanthe), a critically endangered arboreal primate that uses narrow tree corridors, we use species distribution modelling, satellite remote sensing, and novel network analysis approaches to assess remaining habitat and identify locally appropriate conservation options. Our customized connectivity analysis better accounts for uncertainty and the potential impacts of future habitat fragmentation.

This joint presentation by Nathan Walker and Danica Schaffer-Smith was recorded. 

I have been selected as one of 25 participants in the 3rd Graduate Workshop on Environmental Data Analytics to be held at NCAR in Boulder, Colorado. I am excited to add some additional big data and modelling skills to my toolkit and to learn more about the research by NCAR and NEON. 

My attendance is being supported by a new Duke Graduate Student Training Grant intended for students to gain skills outside of their own disciplines. I am happy to report that several of my fellow Nicholas School students also received this fantastic award!

Nathan Walker (MEM 2017) has started his summer internship at the Proyecto Mono Tocón offices in Moyobamba, Peru. Nathan will be working on his MP, attempting a rangewide assessment of potential connectivity for the critically endangered San Martín titi monkey. He will also be using his geospatial analysis expertise to support database management and geospatial science at PMT. You can follow his work and travels this summer at his blog. 

Buen viaje Nathan!