Map Gallery

Watershed Conservation Research Center (WCRC)

Title: A Mosaic of Environmental GIS Research in the French Creek Watershed

Authors: Julia Desanto '25, Lauren Dougherty '25, Chris Shaffer, Instructor (2024)

Synopsis of various projects conducted during summer research including the development of a web-based application for organizing, visualizing, and disseminating ecological data, evaluating multiple techniques for drainage basin delineation, inventorying hiking trails at the college's experimental forest, and more.

French Creek Valley Conservancy (FCVC)

Title: French Creek Basin Land Parcel Prioritization

Authors: Travis Dear '24, Heather Landis '24, (2023)

Map overlay approach to scoring land parcels on their desirability for future acquisition based on a number of geographic criteria including total acreage, proximity to water, existing FCVC land, and public land, presence of wetlands and/or hydric soils, amount of "core" forest and canopy cover, and riparian frontage.

Foundation for Sustainable Forests (FSF)

Title: Identification and Prioritization of Forest Landowners in NWPA

Author: Chris Shaffer, GIS Manager/Instructor (2014)

Generation of a database of forest landowners, ranked by various factors such as forest acreage and shape, proximity to the French Creek basin, existing FSF managed land, and public land, residence of landowner, and more, in support of a targeted outreach mailing campaign to educate and develop partnerships with local landowners. 

Selected Projects

• Suitability Analysis for Honey Bee Hive Sites (2022)

• GIS Multicriteria Evaluation for the Most Suitable Trail Route (2020)

• Site Suitability for Canadian Lynx (2020)

• Bog Turtle Reintroduction Northwestern Pennsylvania (2019)

• Eligibility of Agricultural Land for Conservation (2019)

• GIS-Based Suitability Analysis for the Reintroduction of Red Wolves (2019)

• Habitat Likelihood for Wavyleaf basketgrass (2019)

• American Bison Habitat Suitability and Corridor Analysis (2018)

• European Bison Reintroduction, Central Eastern Europe (2018)

• Florida Panther Habitat Suitability Using GIS (2018)

• GIS-Based Suitability Analysis for Commercial Compost Facility Siting (2018)

• Ideal Locations for Offshore Wind Turbines (2016)

• Point Source Pollutants for Phosphorus Nutrient Loading (2015)

• Habitat Suitability for Cougar Reintroduction (2014)

• Biogas distribution in Nepal (2013)

• Prioritization of Wetland Sites for AMD Remediation (2013)

• Recommended Surface Casing Depths for Oil and Gas Wells (2013)

• Suitability Analysis for Garden and Bee Hive Placement (2013)

• Suitability Analysis for the Expansion of Vineyards and Wineries (2013)

• Designation of Future Old Growth Forest Areas (2012)

• Geographic Potential for Renewable Energy (2011)

• Safe Walking Routes for Children (2011)

• Salinization and Environmental Degradation (2011)

• Maintenance Ranking System for Sewer Pipes (2010)