At California State University Channel Islands I was exposed to the world of GIS and statistical analysis and was immediately obsessed. I found something that not only interested me but excited me. My quest for knowledge that I have been on since birth finally had a focus. I applied for additional research projects using GIS and took every class they offered on the subject. My coastal monitoring course had me collecting data with drones and then processing and visualizing that data to monitor the geomorphology of the coastline. My environmental stats course showed me the power of ‘R’ and effective data visualization. Eventually I became the GIS and environmental statistics tutor in my senior year because I enjoyed the subjects so much. 

After graduation I worked for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife under a land manager utilizing remote sensing and GIS to help draft and revise management plans, and curate and maintain GIS data, including digitizing from historic documents. Another project I worked on was training the AI model in Wildlife Insights to monitor wildlife populations for the drought program. I assisted the wildfire prevention program with the mapping of burn scars and vegetation surveys using drones and GIS. My personal project was using ESRI Field Maps to update the trail system maps, and trap cameras to identify human and wildlife hotspots on the 5,368-acre ecological reserve on the central coast.

I currently work in the Fairfax Beaver Lab at St. Anthony Falls Laboratory. 

Jen Bays

Skills

FAA Part 107, Licensed Drone Pilot

Esri : ArcGIS Pro, Operations Dashboard, Story Maps, etc

Data Analysis in R and Python

Office and Team Management 

Invasive Species Monitoring 

Education

University of Minnesota / Masters of GIS

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California State University Channel Islands / B.S. Environmental Science

Key Courses: Intro to GIS, Intermediate GIS, Environmental Statistics, Fundamentals of Remotely Piloted Systems, Coastal Monitoring w/ Remotely Piloted Systems 

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Ventura College / A.S. Environmental Science

Undergraduate prerequisites with an emphasis in Biology and Environmental Science.

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Charter College / A.A. Medical Insurance Coding

Medical front office management, with  ICD-9-CM and CDT insurance coding.

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Lu Ross Academy / Cosmetology

California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology License 

Research Experience

Apostle Islands Beaver Project, National Parks Service

Advisor: Dr. Emily Fairfax

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Beaver Dam Project, Zooniverse

Advisor: Dr. Emily Fairfax

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Environmental Injustice: Beach Access in Oxnard

Advisor: Dr. Kiki Patsch

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California Coastal Access Equity

Advisors: Dr. Kiki Patsch and Dr. Dan Reineman

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I See CI  

Advisor: Dr. Emily Fairfax

Professional  Experience

St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, Fairfax Beaver Lab

Research Assistant

California Department of Fish and Wildlife

Scientific Aid

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CSUCI Environmental Science & Resource Management 

Research Assistant

GIS Teaching Assistant

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CSUCI Geology

Laboratory Technician 

Awards

Ventura College Foundation

California Environmental Education Scholarship

Linda McSherry-Roos Environmental Studies Scholarship 

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California State University Channel Islands

The Harper Family Trust Scholarship

C.O.A.S.T. Scholarship