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OFWIM
> Publications >
1999 Conference Proceedings > Plenary Session Proceedings
4th Microcomputer Applications in
Fish & Wildlife Conference
October 24-27, 1999
Stateline, Nevada
Plenary Session
~ Keynote Address ~
Dr. Robert H. Giles, Jr., Professor Emeritus, Virginia Tech
Plenary
Speakers
Anne
Frondorf, NBII Program Manager, U.S. Geological Survey
Doug
Johnston, Director, U. of IL Geographic Modeling Systems Lab
Andy Loftus,
MARIS Coordinator, Fish and Wildlife Information Exchange
Jefferson L.
Waldon, Assistant Director, Conservation Management Institute
Keynote Address
Help for Managing the World Wide Wildlife (WWW) Resource
Robert H. Giles, Jr.
Professor Emeritus, Virginia Tech
504 Rose Avenue
Blacksburg, Virginia 24060
rhgiles@vt.edu
Recounting some of the early
stresses and losses encountered within the wildlife world of databases and information
systems, the speaker maintains that the work is good and has been done for the right
reasons. He attempts to encourage and support the current work but suggests an unusual
view of work to enhance progress in foreign lands, stressing the importance of local
peoples' efforts.
Special efforts he suggests
include:
He describes and encourages using the wildland
enterprise paradigm, and its associated wildland associations, a new concept of
ranging, and the Internet as a planning medium.
The major portion of the speech can be seen at
http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/rhgiles/essentials/tahoe.htm
Biography
Dr. Giles is a retired professor of wildlife
resource management. Bob came to Virginia Tech and has been there for 30 years teaching
and working with graduate students. He graduated from there with a BS in forestry, stayed
for a master's degree in wildlife, worked for the state Game Department, then went to Ohio
State University for a PhD. There with Tony Peterle he studied the effects of malathion on
the forest ecosystem using radioactive-labeled sulfur in the compound. He then went to the
University of Idaho and taught techniques and big game management. Editor of the
Techniques Manual, author of a textbook (and 200 other publications), he worked to create
a GIS for the state starting in 1968. With students and staff, he created the Virginia
wildlife database called BOVA. He now develops a web site and teaches a graduate course
using the site and email.
Plenary
Speakers
Increasing Access to Fish and Wildlife Data: Opportunities for
Collaboration
Anne Frondorf
NBII Program Manager
MS302, U.S. Geological Survey
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, VA 20192
703-648-4205
anne_frondorf@usgs.gov
The U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS) is collaborating with many partner agencies and organizations to develop the
National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII). The NBII <www.nbi.gov>
is an Internet-based "federation" of biological resources data, information
products, and data analysis tools from many different sources. Fish and
wildlife data and information represent a fundamental component of the NBII network.
Several examples of successful NBII collaborations with State and Federal agencies and
non-government organizations that help broaden access to fish and wildlife data will be
reviewed. Opportunities for future partnerships, including potential funding
opportunities, in this area will be outlined.
Biography:
Anne Frondorf is currently the
Program Manager for the U.S. Geological Survey's National Biological Information
Infrastructure Program. She has worked in the U.S. Department of the Interior for
over 20 years, including more than 15 years with the National Park Service. She has
a Ph.D. in natural resources management from the University of Arizona.
When Apples become Supercomputers: The Emerging Environment for
Information
Doug Johnston
Director, UI Geographic Modeling Systems Lab
220 Davenport Hall
607 S. Mathews, Urbana, IL 61801
Phone 217-333-5880
johnston@gis.uiuc.edu
http://www.gis.uiuc.edu/
Technological advances in
computer technologies continue unabated. The first web browser emerged six years ago
and instantly spawned an enormous (if unsettled) industry using the Internet as the medium
for exchange of information, money, products, data and many others. This talk will briefly
survey emerging activities in a variety of areas of computation and networked services
including Web tools, visualization, and GIS. It is an optimistic view, tempered by
experiences with the rapidly expanding universe of information resources and demands.
Biography:
Doug Johnston is an associate professor at the
University of Illinois, Senior Research Scientist at the National Center for
Supercomputing Applications, and Director of the Geographic Modeling Systems Lab. He
has been involved in numerous projects focused on the delivery of information resources to
decision makers and analysts and is working with other researchers, industry, and
communities on designing computational systems for next generation computers and
networks. Doug received his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering focusing on Water
Resources Planning and Management.
The MARIS
Partnership: Using Desktop Applications to Share Data Nationwide
Andrew J. Loftus
MARIS Coordinator
3116 Munz Drive, Suite A
Annapolis, MD 21403
410-295-5997
Aloftus501@aol.com
During the early 1990's, several
federal and state agencies teamed with the Fish and Wildlife Information Exchange and
Sport Fishing Institute to explore improved mechanisms for states to share data across
jurisdictional boundaries. While these initial efforts were successful in demonstrating
the utility of applying data compiled from different sources, transferring that data in an
efficient and non-burdensome manner to the end user continued to pose an obstacle. In late
1994, four federal agencies teamed with six state agencies to develop a mechanism which
married existing PC-based information systems with state-of-the-art Internet technology to
overcome this obstacle. The resulting Multi-State Aquatic Resources Information System
(MARIS) allows end data users to access quantitative information on aquatic species from
multiple states through a centralized query system. Providers of the data (states)
maintain the control over, and integrity of, their internal data systems and utilize a
series of tools such as look-up tables to overcome differences in terminology and storage
media. A prototype of the full working model has been developed and evaluations of the
data have been completed. Results of the evaluations, combined with general enthusiasm
expressed by agencies for the concept, provide a template to allow the expansion to
additional states and increase the scope of the data content.
Biography:
Andrew Loftus is a natural resources consultant
specializing in natural resources policy and facilitating interagency programs. He serves
on a variety of public and private advisory boards including chairing the Chesapeake Bay
Citizens Advisory Committee (an advisory Board to the Chesapeake Bay state governors, the
mayor of the District of Columbia, the administrator of the EPA and the joint legislative
program of Maryland and Virginia). In a number of these projects he is affiliated with the
Fish and Wildlife Information Exchange at Virginia Tech.
From 1990-96, he was the Director for Science
with the American Sportfishing Association and Sport Fishing Institute. During this time,
he directed the FishAmerica Foundation, a nonprofit international grants program providing
funding to hands-on projects which improve fishery and aquatic resources. Prior to that,
he served as a stock assessment biologist for the Chesapeake Bay with the Maryland
Department of Natural Resources Estuarine and Marine Fisheries Program. Andrew received
his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Fisheries and Wildlife from Michigan State
University, specializing in population dynamics. While in Michigan, he worked
cooperatively with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Michigan Sea Grant
conducting research on lake trout in the Great Lakes.
Information Technology Applications for Fish and Wildlife Management:
Dilbert and the Zen of Technology Adoption
Jeff Waldon
Assistant Director, Conservation Management Institute
College of Natural Resources
203 W. Roanoke St., Blacksburg, VA 24061
(540) 231-7348 voice, (540) 231-7019 fax
fwiexchg@vt.edu
Information Technology (IT)
applications are changing our society and our world. The fish and wildlife profession is
no exception. Specialists within the profession have become adept at collecting,
processing, and analyzing spatial and temporal data at a variety of scales and
resolutions, however non-specialists adopt technologies slowly if at all. Our
profession’s ability to effectively internalize new technologies is limited by a
variety of factors, all related to personnel, institutional policy, and public policy. We
don’t have a lack of technological capability, but rather a lack of understanding of
what is required to institutionalize new technologies.
Biography:
Jeff Waldon is the Assistant Director of the
Conservation Management Institute (CMI), a multi-disciplinary research and development
center with the College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech. The CMI focuses on
information technology, restoration ecology, outreach, and education to support the
conservation of biodiversity through North America and the World. Mr. Waldon has served as
the Project Leader of the Fish and Wildlife Information Exchange, a project in the Dept.
Of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences at Virginia since 1991, developing computer
applications, geographic information systems, web sites, and data collection programs. He
currently serves as the Software Editor for the Wildlife Society Bulletin.
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