Episode 55: Kurt Menke On The Importance of GIS Mapping To Successful Rewilding Projects
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Kurt Menke, Bird’s Eye View GIS, Rewilding Leadership Council Member
About Kurt
A former archaeologist, Kurt Menke is a geospatial generalist based in Albuquerque. He founded Bird’s Eye View to apply his expertise with GIS technology towards solving the world’s mounting ecological, economic and social issues. His areas of focus are public health, conservation and education. Kurt has a broad skill set. He is a spatial analyst, cartographer, web map developer, trainer/teacher and author.
He is also one of the newest members of the Rewilding Leadership Council. Kurt has been involved in myriad conservation mapping projects, including one we talk about today, the very successful Tijeras Canyon wildlife passage. We start with a bit of background before we really geek out on the vital importance of mapping to rewilding projects around the world.
Topics
- Why mapping is crucial to the vision and success of any rewilding project
- How good maps are worth many thousands of words when it comes to depicting on-the-ground elements important to reconnecting and protecting habitat and species
- The successful Tijeras Canyon wildlife passage project
- Kurt’s favorite “back of a napkin” map by Dave Foreman
Extra Credit
- Visit Kurt at Bird’s Eye View GIS and on Twitter
- Read more about Kurt’s background on his Rewilding Leadership Council page
Director of Digital Outreach (D.O.D.O.) for The Rewilding Institute
Host and Producer of the Rewilding Earth Podcast
Jack started Rewilding work as Executive Director of Sky Island Alliance in the mid-1990’s, organizing the Sky Island Wildlands Network design, ripping up illegal roads on forest service lands, installing wolf acclimatization pens on Ted Turner’s Ladder Ranch & conducting howling surveys to help make way for the final stage of the Lobo reintroduction program in the Southwest.
Through the years, Jack has worked with Dave Foreman and the Rewilding Gang to further Rewilding initiatives and education.