NEWS
Jeff Knopf Receives Employee Recognition Award at Saint Mary’s University Christmas Celebration
On December 9th, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota held its Employee Christmas Celebration on the Winona campus. Jeff Knopf from GeoSpatial Services was among select other SMU Staff who were honored with the Employee Recognition Awards. The Very Reverend James P. Burns, IVD, Ph.D., President of the university presented the awards.
Jeff was recognized for his exceptional work at GSS with Staff and Students over the years.
Jeff was commended for his dedication and collaborative spirit, stating that his efforts reflect the very best of Saint Mary’s University. This award highlights Jeff’s ongoing commitment to excellence, and his impact on the university is deeply appreciated.
Congratulations to Jeff on this well-deserved recognition!
Jeff Knopf receives his Employee Recognition from Fr. Burns
GSS Hosts Minnesota Agricultural Conservation Professionals
In early November, GSS staff Kevin Stark, Jeff Knopf, Eric Lindquist, and Andy Robertson hosted a meeting with agricultural conservation professionals. The group was represented by staff from the MN Dept. of Agriculture (MDA), MN Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), and two local soil and water conservation district (SWCD) staff from Fillmore County and Root River. The gathering took place at GSS’s Winona offices, where participants toured the facilities and attended presentations in the scenic third-floor conference room of SMU’s Aquinas Hall.
In cooperation with the Fillmore County Soil and Water Conservation District and the MN Dept. of Ag., GSS staff are piloting a GIS mapping and targeting technique that will involve identifying existing conservation practices on farm fields and an off-site assessment process that will help Dept. of Ag and SWCD staff target fields that will benefit from additional conservation practices installations. This information will help local SWCD staff with meaningful offsite data that will assist them in their field walk-overs when they approach farmers about the potential to expand upon their existing conservation efforts. The meeting introduced attendees to the concepts in this pilot project, talked about the benefits of such a project, and even explored what it would look like to potentially scale up the work to involve a large area such as southeast Minnesota. GSS spoke about the organization's capacity and competency to take on large projects like this, demonstrated by decades of expansive mapping project work and local partnerships and projects that support agricultural conservation planning.
GSS hosts Ag Professionals in one of the unique spaces of SMU’s Aquinas Hall.
GSS Work Featured on Local Colorado News
The wetland mapping work of GSS students for Amigos Bravos, a New Mexico non-profit, was recently featured on the local news in Grand Junction, Colorado. See the full story here!
GSS Heads Back to New Mexico
In October, a dedicated team of three from GSS embarked on a week-long fieldwork trip to New Mexico to verify wetland landscape changes across two key project areas. Spanning five days, the trip focused on restoration sites, streams, rivers, and the unique mountain wetland features that characterize the region. The primary goal was to collect data for an updated mapping project of the Canadian River basin and Jemez Mountain areas, which is set to be finalized by the winter of 2025.
The team—Andy Robertson, Zack Ansell, and Isabelle Ostrem—was joined by staff from the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) and other stakeholders, broadening the scope and expertise involved in the fieldwork. Based in Jemez Springs, the team traveled across the diverse New Mexican landscape, covering an impressive 1,400 miles as they journeyed north to Chama and east to Taos. Along the way, they observed a variety of landscapes, from pristine mountain wetlands to perennial riverine systems.
These collaborative field observations will play a crucial role in the mapping update, ensuring a comprehensive and accurate representation of the region's evolving wetland landscapes. The trip not only provided valuable data on the health of these vital ecosystems but also highlighted the incredible diversity and beauty of New Mexico’s natural environments. With the successful completion of this fieldwork, the team is now one step closer to finalizing the mapping project, which will serve as an important tool for future conservation and restoration efforts in the region.
GSS Visits Great Plains, Missouri River
In mid-October, GSS staff Kevin Stark, Nick Lemcke, and Avrey Simonson traveled from northeastern South Dakota, heading south to northern Nebraska, and following the Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers to eastern Iowa. They visited eight different watersheds with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 3 and 6 NWI coordinators, Nina Hill and Meaghan Lamothe. The team was also joined by Sand Lake USFWS Biologist Jessica Dowler for a day. The field work was part of a wetland mapping update for these Great Plains watersheds associated with NRCS conservation easements. The week prior to this trip, GSS analyst Zack Ansell visited three watersheds between Watertown and Brookings, South Dakota for the same project. Memorable moments from the trip were the Sand Lake National Wild Refuge, which plays a major role for migratory birds associated with the Central Flyway, as well as the Niobrara River Delta. This delta, where the Niobrara flows into the impounded Missouri River, is constantly changing, and has been seeing new sediment islands forming due to the 2019 Niobrara flood.
Robertson & Tadie attend CPI at Notre Dame
GSS Executive Director, Andrew Robertson & SMU Professor, Joe Tadie attended and presented at the Church Properties Initiative Conference held on the University of Notre Dame Campus, September 16-17, 2024.
The event brought together church leaders, real estate practitioners, and academics from around the world, to address the most pressing property-related challenges facing religious landowners and managers.
**Date:** September 16-17, 2024
**Location:** University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN
Robertson & Kramer present at NTICC in Anchorage, Alaska
GSS Director Andy Robertson recently attended the National Tribal & Indigenous Climate Conference (NTICC) in Anchorage, Alaska. He was accompanied by Larissa Kramer, a GSS employee residing in Anchorage and a member of the Bristol Bay Native Corporation.
Together, they presented on GSS’s work in the Bristol Bay Region, which creates wetland spatial data and highlighting our innovative projects and collaborations with Indigenous communities as well as partnering with Tribal Communities to provide work-integrated learning opportunities for Tribal youth.
Interagency Collaboration: GSS Floats the Kanektok
In late July, GSS staff members Ben Moonen and Eric Lindquist participated in an interagency river float in the Alaskan wilderness of Togiak National Wildlife Refuge. During the 80-mile float trip on the Kanektok River, Ben and Eric’s goal was to understand and map the river and its surrounding landscapes within the USFWS NWI Mapping standards. For more information and photos about the trip, explore the story map here!
Stark and Lindquist Joined by USFWS in Southern Alaska
GSS Assistant Director Kevin Stark and Eric Lindquist continued our extensive field season in Alaska, traveling many miles across southern Alaska in mid-July, to collect field data for a project funded by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council. This project is the second of its kind that GSS has undertaken, stemming from funds allocated after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
This season, their field verification work spanned from Valdez and the Copper River Delta, across the Kenai Peninsula, over Cook Inlet, and down to the northern end of Katmai National Park. During their time in Cordova, they were joined by a member of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wetlands Inventory (USFWS NWI).
Additionally, GSS staff had the opportunity to reconnect with two Saint Mary's University alumni, Danielle Braun (‘08) and Katrina Danziger (‘23), who reside in the Kenai and Soldotna areas of the Kenai Peninsula. Photos of their visit are included below.
