About

I am a senior at Middlebury College from Hillsborough, North Carolina, pursuing a double major in geography and biology. My first love is the study of organisms and their habitats out in the field, but more recently I have discovered the power of GIS and other geographical techniques to offer valuable insights to the field of conservation ecology. Some of my favorite projects thus far have been mapping potential amphibian road crossing sites in the town of Middlebury, using elevation data to analyze the topographical impact of mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia, and examining the deforestation spillover effects of protected areas. Outside of class, I serve as Head Guide for the college’s outing club and race for the mountain bike team. I also love trail running in terrible weather, snowboarding, and overly elaborate baking projects.

This semester, I am taking a class with Professor Joe Holler called Open GIScience. This blog follows my journey through the course as I learn about both the theory of open source GIS and the practice of reproducibility and replicability. You can also find full-length reports from studies that I have reproduced with the help of my classmates, Professor Holler, and others before me.

Questions? Feel free to reach out to arlutz@middlebury.edu.