People

Bradley W. Compton has more than 20 years of experience modeling connectivity, ecological integrity, and species habitat for applied conservation. He has had major roles in conceptual design and implementation of a number of landscape-scale products, including Massachusetts CAPS and the Designing Sustainable Landscapes Project. He has been a principal of the Designing Sustainable Landscapes Project since its inception in 2010.

Ethan B. Plunkett has two decades of GIS, conservation, and spatial and statistical programming experience including building statistical models to validate CAPS, and working on the DSL project where he built models to simulate urban growth, and construct conservation cores. He has been a part of the Designing Sustainable Landscapes Project from the start.

Joanna Grand, Ph.D. is a Senior Spatial Ecologist with the National Audubon Society where she focuses on conservation planning at local to hemispheric scales. She was a principal of the Designing Sustainable Landscapes Project from its inception in 2010 through 2015 where she led the acquisition, development, and analysis of regional spatial datasets. She remains part of the Designing Sustainable Landscapes project in a consulting role.

Scott Jackson is an Extension Professor whose primary responsibility is to develop and implement integrated research and extension projects in collaboration with other faculty and outside stakeholders. His research interests include wildlife ecology and conservation, wetland assessment and monitoring, impacts of roads and highways on wildlife, and landscape-based ecological assessment. Significant integrated research/extension projects include the Conservation Assessment and Prioritization System (CAPS), North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC), Ecological and Transportation Vulnerability of Road Stream Crossings, Wetlands Assessment and Monitoring, and Ecosystem-focused Climate Adaptation in Massachusetts.

William V. DeLuca, Ph.D. has expertise in species distribution modeling, landscape ecology, migration ecology and co-production of science. He has been a principal of the Designing Sustainable Landscapes Project since its inception in 2010. He is currently a Migration Ecologist at the National Audubon Society, and an Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Department of Environmental Conservation at UMass Amherst. Dr. DeLuca’s primary role will be overall administration of the project within the UMass system.

Kevin McGarigal, Ph.D. (emeritus) was the principal investigator for the DSL project from its inception until the end of 2018. A major goal of his research program at the University of Massachusetts was to provide natural resources managers with information and tools that enable them to become better stewards of healthy and sustainable ecosystems. The DSL project embodies that goal.