Best Practices Working Group Members

A group of model developers dedicated to improving the efficiency of Species At Risk models in Atlantic Canada

Image by rupperrt78

The Best Practices working group was assembled in the Fall of 2022 to establish modelling best practices in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). These FAQs will tackle the thorny issues that plague model builders and draw on the combined expertise of the working group.

Dr. Robert Buchkowski
Dr. Robert Buchkowski | Working Group member

Dr. Robert Buchkowski has expertise in SDM, occupancy modelling and process-based models. He is a Research Scientist at the Atlantic Forestry Centre in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Courtney Burk | Working Group member

Courtney Burk is a wildlife connectivity and conservation planning specialist with expertise in ecological and connectivity modelling, RPAS basic pilot, GIS, R and Python.

Dr. Alana Westwood
Dr. Alana Westwood | Working Group member

Dr. Alana Westwood has expertise in Maxent, Log-linear regression and conservation prioritization algorithms (Zonation). She is an Assistant Professor at the School for Resource and Environmental Studies at Dalhousie University.

Jocelyn Pender
Jocelyn Pender | Working Group facilitator

Jocelyn sends out meeting invites, updates the website, and establishes working group milestones. She enjoys using MaxEnt, writing clean code and community building. She is a Conservation Data Analyst at the Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre.

Dr. David Lieske
Dr. David Lieske | Former Working Group member

Dr. David Lieske is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environment, Mount Allison University, and a spatial modeler with expertise in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), statistics, and remote sensing – a trio of tools that have helped him cast light on the conditions that have driven changes in both birds (falcons, ducks, seabirds) and mammals (elk), as well as the blacklegged tick – a species of special concern given its role in the spread of Lyme disease. Lieske’s work in wildlife modelling is recognized nationally and internationally.