I am currently employed as a GIS programmer/analyst and research associate in Paul Beier's wildlife and conservation biology lab in the School of Forestry at Northern Arizona University. My current responsibilities include 1) programming GIS tools for designing wildlife corridors, 2) web design of the CorridorDesign site to distribute these tools, and 3) development of website content, tutorials, and documentation for the project. In 2005-2006, I was the GIS Analyst for the Arizona Missing Linkages project, a statewide conservation planning effort which aims to reconnect large blocks of fragmented habitat throughout Arizona.
My scientific interests are based around spatial aspects of ecology, including conservation biology, landscape ecology, and macroecology. I am also interested in statistical modeling, all forms of GIS-based modeling, remote sensing, web design, and other tech-y/geeky stuff. While I'm interested in pure theoretical ecology and GIS programming, I get most excited about applying sound science to on-the-ground conservation. I obtained my MS in Ecology and my BS in Natural Resources & Environmental Science from Purdue University. My Master's research focused on modeling the distribution of 41 species of birds in the Tilaran mountains of Costa Rica using topographic data from NASA's recently-released Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model.
To learn about some of the projects I have worked on, check out my portfolio of GIS, ecology, web design, and technical writing and my Curriculum Vitae. To learn a little more about the non-work me, check out my about page.
This page last updated 16 February 2007 by Dan Majka