Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/75042
in these interrelated disciplines also can take too long, so a conservation-ecology toolbox was developed with a collection of tools that help quicken and automate the processes. The Department of Biological Sciences (DBS), C University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, is extraordinarily active in applying GIS to conservation- ecology research (www.biology.ualberta.ca/facilities/gis). It's the largest department on campus and consists of different research interest groups (RIGs), of which the Ecology RIG is the largest. Each year, upwards of 80 graduate students, faculty and research staff in the Ecology RIG combine one or more spatial technologies (e.g., GIS, remote sensing, GPS) into ecosystem and wildlife investigations. From polar bear and sea-ice habitat dynamics to urban amphibian dispersal to heavy-metal accumulation in watersheds and the subsequent contamination in fish that people eat, the questions probed also vary in geographical scope, scale and methodologies. Figure 1 shows a sampling of where various projects occur. Most spatial projects are associated with the Alberta Conservation Cooperative Research Unit (ACCRU), a multi-disciplinary, interdepartmental and multi-institutional (i.e., University of Alberta, University of Calgary and University of Lethbridge) research and learning center. The ACCRU mission is to "generate and communicate reliable scientific knowledge and technologies that will drive effective stewardship and wise use of wildlife and fisheries resources" (www. biology.ualberta.ca/accru). Computation Technology is a marvel; it allows ecologists to col- lect, manage, analyze, and present snapshots and dynamics of wildlife, habitat and plant biodiversity. The associated spatial technologies of GPS and remote sensing extend the reach of GIS by integrating alter- nate sources of spatial data. Andy Derocher marveled one day "in the field" sur- rounding the environs of Churchill, Manitoba, that while he was observing his prime research subjects, polar onservation ecology is the contraction of con- servation biology and landscape ecology, which takes too long to say. Likewise, spatial analyses Figure 1. Conservation-ecology projects in the biological sciences at the University of Alberta occur all across Canada in terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Figure 2. Close encounters of the remote kind are a perk of applying spatial technologies to conservation ecology. JUL Y 2O12 / WWW . GEOPLA CE . COM 27 ANDREW DEROCHER