Coastal Applications Using ArcGIS
Identifying and understanding coastal conservation issues is facilitated using GIS technology. Conservation planning often involves analysis of population growth and habitat vulnerability and the identification of protected areas. A fundamental understanding of how GIS technology is applied to coastal issues can enhance coastal conservation planning efforts.
Coastal Community Planning and Development
Recognizing typical patterns of growth and understanding alternatives to coastal development are critical first steps in coastal land use planning. This course provides coastal planners and other participants with the background, examples, and strategies to foster more sustainable development in their own coastal communities.
Coastal Inundation Training
Land conservation is a method of mitigating storm and flood impacts. Identifying areas susceptible to flood inundation will help conservation planners and floodplain managers prioritize conservation efforts. This course teaches participants about the different types of coastal inundation, ways to map flood areas in the coastal environment, data and methodology limitations, and practical ways to apply this information to support state and local planning efforts.
Conservation Data Documentation
Data can be an expensive component of a conservation-planning project. To help get the most utility out of data, it is important to document how the data were developed and their intended uses. The Conservation Data Documentation and Metadata workshop provides conservation practitioners with the information and tools needed to document their spatial data in the geographic information system (GIS) environment.
GIS Tools for Strategic Conservation Planning
The green infrastructure approach brings together diverse community members to balance environmental and economic goals. Green infrastructure is a designed network of natural areas that benefits nature and people. GIS technology offers one of the best ways to assimilate data and information into a plan of action that works best for a community.
Negotiating for Coastal Resources
This training teaches basic negotiation skills, invaluable for enhancing coastal resource conservation. Students apply and practice principled negotiation skills using coastal management and land use case studies.
Needs Assessment Training
Conservation requires the right skills and tools to get the job done. This on-line training helps capacity-building organizations clearly identify the needs of their target audiences through surveys and other mechanisms. Understanding audience needs is the critical first step in designing and delivering new products and services.
Project Design and Evaluation
Establishing clear goals and developing helpful evaluation tools are important yet often overlooked pieces of any conservation program or initiative. This course will help conservation-minded organizations design more-effective conservation projects and programs using instructional design theory and tools.
Public Issues and Conflict Management
Conserving land in coastal areas can be a hotly debated and confrontational pursuit. This course will equip conservation professionals with the ability to design, conduct, and manage meetings and other collaborative efforts in public forums.
Remote Sensing for Spatial Analysts
Conservation planning and green infrastructure design require an understanding of landscape context and spatial relationships. Determining these relationships often takes place in a GIS environment. The Center’s Remote Sensing for Spatial Analysts course builds the technical capacity of GIS practitioners to develop land cover information, characterize local topography, identify sensitive habitats from remotely sensed imagery, and incorporate the imagery into their GIS analysis processes.
