Effects of Sea Level Rise on Habitats of Clew Bay
Remote sensing was used in this project to make a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the land surface of an archipelago in western Ireland and characterise the land cover. LiDAR and Landsat images were the data sources. A .pdf file of this MSc thesis can be downloaded here (!!20 MB!!). It was subsequently published as a book with LAP Lambert Academic Publishers.
BIOFOREST– Biodiversity in Plantation Forests in Ireland
Susan was Project Manager and Senior Research Fellow with Trinity College on a six-year research project “BIOFOREST”, focusing on biodiversity in Irish forestry plantations. Multiple publications resulted from this and these support management methods for biodiversity-friendly management of Irish forests. The project management included co-ordinating the three institutions in the consortium (TCD, UCC and Coillte), ensuring tasks and reports were completed on time and to budget, and ensuring the progress and integration of the teams for botanical and zoological work. Special input to the botany team was also undertaken, including field survey planning and implementation.
Global Ecological Zones for FAO Forest Resources Assessment
As part of the FRA 2000 and 2010, a Global Ecological Zone (GEZ) map dataset was created and used to indicate how much forest was in each of the Earth’s major Ecological Zones. The work for the creation of the dataset involved collaborating with recognised experts from different regions of the globe. Susan organised and participated in workshops and played a major part in pulling together the GEZ map, both for the 2000 FRA (as part of her work at WCMC) and as an independent consultant in 2012.
Rapid Ecological Assessment
Clients: The Nature Conservancy (US), US Agency for International Development
Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) is a process by which existing biological and ecological records are used with new spatial data analysis and targeted fieldwork to streamline conservation planning and implementation. It has been used in Latin America and the Caribbean in particular. Susan worked on many aspects of these projects, organising and leading field teams, carrying out habitat identification, image interpretation and writing multidisciplinary reports. Examples of reports from Jamaica may be downloaded (!! 15 MB!!) here. Some other REA reports/publications may be accessed through the publications list, click here.
Ecology GIS 