Fumika, Japan
Fumika, Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit
x2020 x2020Scholar x2020Talk xAsia xJapan xBiodiversity xEducation xYouth xTaxonomy xBiogeography xSpecies xLandscape xDistribution xStatistics xEcosystem xModelling xArcGIS
As a lover of maps, atlases and satellite images from a young age and an interest in environmental issues, I believe that conservation GIS is a field that I am meant to pursue as my long term goal. Through working at my first research job after my degree in Environmental Geography, I have gained a foundational knowledge of using GIS applications (ArcGIS) and GIS in R to generate and analyse local-scale datasets. As I look towards generating regional and national-scale datasets, I am in need of technical knowledge to optimize workflow, handle geodatabases and publish the datasets online in an interactive format.
Describe your current GIS Interests:
I have been learning it for around 3 years. I learnt GIS using ArcGIS (v10), The workflows that I am most comfortable with are:
- Data preparation:
- Georeferencing and digitisation of various data sources, such as delineating vegetation extent from aerial images and digitizing points (eg. discrete depth and height measurements) from maps.
- Analysis:
- Shoreline change analysis using Digital Shoreline Analysis System
- Interpolation of discrete points to infer bathymetry and topography
- Quantify areal change in vegetation
- Figure creation and spatial data visualisation:
- I enjoy creating location maps, consolidating data layers from various sources and presenting them in a simple and informative way.
I am most interested in gaining the following GIS skills:
- Improving and optimizing GIS workflow: Since most of my ArcGIS workflow throughout university was focused on local, system-scale analyses, I have not had the need to optimize the workflow (although it would have made my life easier!). However, as I look towards generating large-scale environmental layers (as part of my work and student project for this Program), I would like to learn how to manipulate raster in GIS and more crucially, learn how to build/manage geodatabases and automate workflow with Python.
- Web GIS: Since it is important to publish datasets and results, the logical next skill that I would like to learn is webmapping. I am especially interested in learning ArcGIS JavaScript API which would allow users to interact with maps through a browser. I find this especially important, since my love for GIS was initially sparked by spending hours looking at GoogleEarth and being fascinated by what I saw.
I belong to the Biodiversity & Biocomplexity Unit, which seeks to understand the diversity and dynamics of living systems. Several projects are currently being conducted, ranging from a long-term ecological monitoring program in Okinawa, to an international collaborative research on mapping global ant diversity.
