Alicia Johnson demonstrating GIS software                                            Sean Fitzgerald explaining his Biodiversity Model

Several members of the department spent one month in the southern Philippines in June and July working on a research project on biodiversity assessment and archiving in the Eastern Mindanao Corridor. That work is being done under a Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) grant to the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF), the University of the Philippines Mindanao (UPM), and the Northern Mindanao Institute of Science and Technology (NORMIST). The primary role of UMass is in support of computer-based modeling of the distribution of endangered  vertebrate species, delineation of species habitat, and assessing probabilities of threats to species and species habitats within the Eastern Mindanao Corridor, a major biodiversity hotspot in Southeast Asia. The overall project is known as the Eastern Mindanao Conservation Collaborative (EMCC).      

The UMass group was led by Prof. James Hafner. Lecturer Sean Fitzgerald, who is a Ph.D. candidate, provided critical technical and computer-based instruction on modeling and modeling tools. Alicia Johnson, Geography master's candidate, demonstrated the use of GIS software to the workshop participants, and coordinated data collection techniques to PEF fields teams. Although not accompanying the UMass team, Don Sluter, Geography master's candidate, played a critical role in providing classified satellite imagery for field study sites.

Atendees of the training sessions