Interagency Clearinghouse of Ecological Information

2017 – Tools for Visualizing Natural Resources

Exploring Visualization Tools for Communicating Natural Resource Management Information

April 19, 2017. Portland State University


Sponsored by the USFS Region 6 Landscape Architecture and Ecology Programs and the

USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station

Goal:   To demonstrate some existing tools and discuss shared interests around communicating natural resource science and management issues. 

Audience:  Practitioners, researchers, and academics interested in utilizing visualization tools to facilitate resource management communication.

Location:  Portland State University, Visualization Studio. 


Visualization Tool Forum Final Agenda


Visualizing to meet Visual Quality Effectiveness Obligations in British Columbia.

Ken Fairhurst, Resource Design Inc., Vancouver BC Canada


Using the Visual Nature Studio 3 software to assist with communicating landscape restoration.

James Dickinson, Ecologist, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest


Comparing Structure from Motion (SfM) Derived 3D Models to Aerial and Terrestrial LiDAR in Forestry Applications.

Monika Moskal, Associate Professor of Remote Sensing Associate Director, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, Univ. of WA


 Telling climate Stories with DataBasin and other CBI tools

Dominique Bachelet, Senior Climate Change Scientist, Conservation Biology Institute


Storyboarding/Story Mapping:  catching on as a creative, impactful method to communicate multi-faceted information.

Chaochung Tsai, Web Tools Specialist, Region 6, Forest Service


Visualizations using Google Earth, Sketchup, and Autocad.

Kevin Colby, Landscape Architect, Arapaho & Roosevelt NF and Kelly Ortiz, Landscape Architect, Rio Grande NF


Connecting the dots: data, simulation and realism.

Bob McGaughey, Research Forester, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Vegetation Monitoring and Remote Sensing Team


Integrating video with GOOGLE EARTH imagery to tell dynamic stories.

Gary Grimm, Mountain Visions


A place for virtual reality in communicating natural resource management.

Erica Smithwick and Alexander Klippel, Penn State University 


Using VISTAS* to explore data on topographically complex landscapes. (*Visualization of Terrestrial and Aquatic Systems)

Chad Zanocco, PhD Student, OSU