Geospatial story map and data development to facilitate integration of cultural fire regimes into wildfire and climate adaptation strategies
Faculty mentor/Supervisor:
John Bailey
Email Address:
Department Affiliation:
Forest Engineering Resources & Management
Project Location:
Remote and/or Corvallis Main Campus
Project Description:
My lab is beginning a large collaborative effort in Northern California to evaluate fire, vegetation dynamics, and risk under expected climate change in the Klamath River Basin. One of the central components of this work, which will my PhD student Skye Greenler will be spearheading, is developing an approach to integrate anthropogenic ignitions from Indigenous Peoples and natural ignitions to reconstruct an historical, cultural fire regime.
This work will be done across a 1.2 million acre landscape in conjunction with a forest collaborative (WKRP) group, the Karuk tribe, and research scientists with the US Forest Service. We am planning to develop a geospatial story map for the study area that can evolve and grow with the project to use as a communication tool with land managers, tribal members, the public, and within our project team. Our vision is that this interactive map will have different biophysical and geopolitical base maps; a layer that displays results from all previously published fire history and indigenous fire use studies in the area with their geographic location and pop-up boxes of key photos, graphs, results etc.; and then layers of our new map products and study results once they are finished. As this tool is built, people will be able to zoom into a specific part of our study landscape and toggle though all these different layers to understand and see the factors driving fire behavior, past studies (and their key results), historical photographs, and our results for that area to begin to understand how all of these factors connect. Once this tool has been developed, we also plan to work with Dr. Frank Lake to reconstruct and digitize maps of historical trail networks to incorporate into our geospatial story map and analyses.
We am hoping to work with an undergraduate in the Mentored Employment program to develop the framework, base layers, and layer of previously published studies for this geospatial story map and reconstructions of historical trail networks. This work will mostly be working in GIS and could involve some literature review work if the student was excited to do it. We will also be gearing up our work on some of the more complex spatial modeling components of this project which the MEP student can potentially be involved in if they desire.
The undergraduate helping with this project would get to be actively involved in a large collaborative project that both scientist and collaborative groups are really exited about. This project would also result in a concrete, publicly available product that the student could put on their resume and use as an example for future employers. The larger project is rapidly growing, and if a student was excited about it, there may be opportunities to continue to stay involved. Additionally, this project can be done completely remotely depending on how long COVID-19 precautions are required.
Describe the type of work and tasks you anticipate the student will perform:
Student will primarily be responsible for geospatial map production in ArcGIS including data manipulation, data visualization, map creation, and potential basic geospatial analytics. This task will require both analytical and design skills. Student may also work with partners to acquire necessary data, digitize maps, or preform basic literature review. Specific tasks for the MEP student will be tailored to their interests, skills, and internship objectives.
Hourly rate of pay:
$12
Detail your mentorship plan:
This student will work closely with myself, my PhD student Skye Greenler, and Chris Dunn, a research associate in my lab. Specific mentorship responsibilities will be determined in part by the MEP student’s skills and interest in various project components. Day to day communication and direct mentorship will likely be provided Skye Greenler, which will be complemented with group and one-on-one meetings between myself and/or Chris Dunn and the MEP student. I am technically on sabbatical this term, but am in Corvallis and easily available for meetings and via email and phone/zoom meetings with the mentee. Chris Dunn is a fantastic mentor and will also be actively involved with the MEP student and Skye.
Since there is some flexibility in how the mentee will spend their hours, we will meet at the beginning of the project to discuss their goals for this project, greater career/education goals, skills they bring to the projects, skills they want to build with the project etc. Based on this conversation we will set some goals for what will get done over the year and how we will work on various components together. In the past I have mentored students with a wide range of oversight, and we will tailor mentorship to the student’s experience and the project. I also hope to build some professional development time into this project to allow the student to read papers related to the project and their interests, learn other GIS skills, or attend project meetings or local conferences depending on the student’s goals and interests.
In addition to working on their main project, I hope to facilitate bi-weekly or monthly coffee meetings with myself and/or Skye and our mentee to talk about their goals, career path, and life more broadly so that we can build a mentorship relationship beyond the scope of the project. While this could take many different forms, my hope would be to establish a lasting relationship so that I can be an approachable resource as they navigate their field into the future. I anticipate this project being about 70% project work, 20% mentoring and project meetings, and 10% professional development activities.