Knopf Presents to Alaska Science Symposium

On April 21, Jeff Knopf presented to the Kenai Peninsula Fish Habitat Science Symposium on using GIS data for environmental decision making on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. The watersheds on the peninsula are vital not only to sustaining ecological processes on the landscape and supporting local biodiversity, but also to local, regional and world economic development and regional culture. As a premier fishing destination, it is imperative to protect and enhance the native fisheries and aquatic resources of the Peninsula. Studies have identified pollution as a threat to these aquatic resources, particularly, heavy metal pollution that flows off of impervious surfaces. In recent decades, changes in the natural landscape and the extent of human development have altered the region's hydrography. Jeff played a key role in updating and creating data to reflect these changes, to better inform planning and management decisions by stakeholders, especially those related to the potential impacts of present-day anthropogenic activities.