With support from the William Penn Foundation, the CLUS established the Delaware River Basin Project- Land Use Dynamics in 2015. From 2015-2017, the research focus was on developing “A Land Cover Mapping, Modeling and Monitoring System for the Delaware River Basin in Support of Maintaining and Restoring Water Resources.” A second grant was later awarded by the Delaware Watershed Research Fund (2017-2020), expanding the focus to more widely consider climate change: “How will forest ecosystems and hydrologic processes in the Delaware River Basin be affected by climate change and land cover change?”
Reliable and regular land cover data are essential to address these challenges, as is the need for forecasting land cover changes in order to continually prioritize restoration and protection investments. These products need to be available Basin-wide in order to ensure conservation actions are targeted strategically. To address these needs, this project addresses three related components:
- High resolution Lidar-based land cover mapping
- Development of a Basin-wide land cover modeling tool
- Feasibility study for long-term land cover change monitoring
With support from the Delaware Watershed Research Fund, a team of scientists from Shippensburg University and Northern Arizona University will connect models of land cover change, climate change, hydrology and tree species to address the impact of future development and environmental change in the Delaware River Basin. Learn more.
Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne
Director
UVM Spatial Analysis Lab
With support from the William Penn Foundation, the University of Vermont Spatial Analysis lab is building a high resolution (1m x 1m) LiDAR-based land cover dataset for all 43 counties that cover the Delaware River Basin watershed.
Peter Claggett
Research Geographer
US Geological Survey
Chesapeake Bay Program
Together with our partners at the US Geological Survey, we are modeling future land use change based on existing data. These computer simulation tools are needed to evaluate and visualize land cover change forecasts under alternate future scenarios.
Scott Goetz, Ph.D.
Professor
School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems
Geospatial Research and Information Laboratory
Patrick Jantz, Ph.D.
Assistant Research Professor
School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems
Geospatial Research and Information Laboratory
Over the next three years, a team of scientists from Shippensburg University and Northern Arizona University will connect models of land cover change, climate change, hydrology and tree species to address the impact of future development and environmental change in the DRB.
Funding for this project comes from the William Penn Foundation. The William Penn Foundation, founded in 1945 by Otto and Phoebe Haas, is dedicated to improving the quality of life in the Greater Philadelphia region through efforts that increase educational opportunities for children from low-income families, ensure a sustainable environment, foster creativity that enhances civic life, and advance philanthropy in the Philadelphia region. In partnership with others, the Foundation works to advance opportunity, ensure sustainability, and enable effective solutions. Since inception, the Foundation has made nearly 10,000 grants totaling over $1.6 billion. The Foundation’s assets exceed $2.3 billion as of Nov. 30, 2014. More information about the foundation is available on its website at www.williampennfoundation.org.
Affiliate Scholars
Jacob Percey
Graduate Student Fellow
Patricia Newdeck
Graduate Student Fellow
Joshua Barth
Graduate Student Fellow
Caitlin Lucas
Undergraduate Student Fellow
Dorlisa Minnick, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Social Work & Gerontology
Tim Hawkins, Ph.D.
Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator, Department of Geography-Earth Science
Scott Drzyzga, Ph.D., GISP
Professor, Department of Geography-Earth Sciences
Claire Jantz, Ph.D. – Past Director
Deputy Secretary
Alfonso Yáñez Morillo
Research Analyst, Center for Land Use and Sustainability
