Geobrain project logo

 

ROBERT E. FORD

BS - Environmental &
Earth System Science
 



 

Bob Ford
Home
Earth System Science Core Courses - LLU-SST - EBS
SPOL 665
Info-Tech.
BIOL 549
Biodiv. &
Conser.
SPOL 624
Nature-Soc.
Thought
SPOL 554
Env. Eq. Eco. Dev. Policy
ESSC 401-2
ES-Sci.
ESSC 541-2
Remote Sensing
ESSC 575 
Field
Practicum

BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION

In August 2003 Robert E. Ford joined Loma Linda University as a Professor of International Sustainable Development and Social Policy in the Department of Social Work and Social Ecology, School of Science and Technology, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, , CA 92350 and the Department of Earth and Biological Sciences.  Formerly (1999 - 2003) he was a Senior Natural Resources Planner and Policy Advisor for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade (EGAT), Office of Natural Resources Management (NRM), Land Resource Management Team (LRMT).  During his tenure with USAID he worked on Special Initiatives such as climate adaptability, land degradation in drylands, ICT (Information and Communications Technology) focusing on Geospatial Information Systems (GIS)--see Geo-IT CoP--sustainable tree-crops, agricultural resource management, and policy analysis for key environmental conventions, e.g. UNCCD, UNFCCC.

CURRICULUM VITAE AND PERSONAL WEBPAGES:

 CONTACT ADDRESS:

Room 121 Griggs Hall,
Earth and Biological Sciences, or
Social Work and Social Ecology
School of Science and Technology,
Loma Linda University,
Loma Linda, CA 92350

Email: rford@llu.edu
Office Phone: (909) 558-7507
Fax: (909) 558-0450

 

 

COURSES ONLINE:

  • ESSC 401- 402 - The Earth System and Global Change I, II
  • ESSC 541- 542 - Remote Sensing and Systems Modeling I, II
  • ESSC 575 - Field Practicum: Applied Earth System Science
  • BIOL 549 - Biodiversity and Conservation
  • SPOL 554 - Environment, Equity, Economics, and Development Policy
  • SPOL 665 - Information Technology and Decision Sciences
  • SPOL 624 - Nature/Society Thought and Social Policy

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PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS (RECENT):.

  • ESSE21 Annual Meeting June, 2004 (Monterey, CA): LLUs Plans for Implementing a BS in Earth Systems Science: Partners and Plans (PPT)

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RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES (Grants/Key Presentations):

June 24-28, 2007: Presentation at the SCGIS Conference (Asilomar, Monterey, CA):

Using GIS/GPS for Protected-area Management in Honduras and Belize: LLU's ESSE21 and Geobrain Projects.

November 20-28, 2006 - Planning for development of:

  1. An Internet Mapping Service application in support of NRM and Ecotourism activities by various local partners in Honduras (FUPNAPIB - Pico Bonito National Park; FUCSA-Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge; REHDES; CURLA (local branch campus of UNAH; , UNAH's new GIS program in Tegucigalps; and the USAID-MIRA Project).
  2. Future expansion of herpetofauna research on the pacific coast of Honduras with UNAH and others (see Herp project).

On July 12 -14, 2006 a workshop was held at CURLA (Centro Universitario Regional del Litoral Atlántico) on the topic of: Use of GPS and ArcView for Protected-Area Management.

Spanish Title: “INTRODUCCIÓN A LOS SISTEMAS DE POSICIONAMIENTO GLOBAL (GPS) Y SU INTEGRACIÓN A PROGRAMAS DE MANEJO DE DATOS GEOGRAFICOS (ARCGIS)”

 

Participants (see partners) came from several entities around La Ceiba, Honduras and from LLU/SST:

  • Pico Bonito National Park
  • Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge
  • MAMUCA
  • REHDES
  • MIRA/USAID
  • UNAH
  • CURLA

Instructors included:

Some of the key resources included:

  • GPS Basics (English)--Powerpoint - by Paul Burgess, Redlands Institute.
  • Basics of GPS (Spanish)--Powerpoint - translated by Rafael Corrales, UNAH

See also:

  • Garmin GPS60, DNR Garmin tools as well as
  • ESRI, ArcGIS 9.1 (thanks to donations from Ingenieria Gerencial - ESRI Distributor in Honduras and others)

    SEE - Converting GPS waypoints, tracklogs, and routes to ArcGIS/ArcView shapefiles. GO TO DNR Garmin Extension for ArcView. link for for DNR Garmin 5.1.1.

= ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/NCGC/products/gps/software/dnr-garmin5-arcmap.pdf

GEOBRAIN grant ($20,000) over two years via George Mason University. Purpose to integrate into our teaching modules on remote sensing the tools from GEOBRAIN - see:

Geobrain project logo

ESSE21 grant Supplement ($17,500) to add to existing ESSE21 grant ($70,000) to create an online LULC/RS (Land Use/Land Cover) Remote Sensing Learning Module - see homepage:

= ESSE21/LULC Module

Basic ESSE21 grant homepage

Two grants/contracts with USAID/ MIRA (Honduras)--value approximately $30,000 (cost reimbursement) --to do biodiversity surveys and assessments of the status of manatees on the North Coast as well as distribution and status of herpetofauna on the Pacific Coast in select protected areas. See reports below and project websites with links to project reports, maps, photos, etc:

= Manatee homepage.

 

 

= Herpetofauna homepage

 

English Report: Herpetofauna in the Honduran Pacific Dry Forest Region (July 2006) (PDF)

 

Spanish Report: BORRADOR DE CENSO DE HERPETOFAUNA DE LAS AREAS PROTEGIDAS DE CERRO GUANACAURE, MONTAÑA LA BOTIJA E ISLA DEL TIGRE EN EL SUR DE HONDURAS (September 2006 - PDF

 

Thesis: Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske. Status and Distribution of Manatees in Honduras and the Use of Side-Scan Sonar (PDF). LOMA LINDA UNIVERSITY, School of Science and Technology in conjunction with the Faculty of Graduate Studies. June 2007.


Final Report - Manatee Aerial Surveys, North Coast of Honduras - March/April 2006

  • Biodiversity assessment, management, and monitoring in (Honduras field research): focus on Manatee and other "flagship species" at key protected areas on the North Coast of Honduras (see recent reconaissance trip photo gallery July 2004). More fieldwork planned over the next few years (follow plans and implementation HERE).

  • Proposal Planning and submission to NASA--Title: EOS Systems:CAN (Cooperative Agreement Notice) # NN-H-04-Z-YO-010-C, Integrated System Solutions – Track 1 Theme – Ecological Forecasting: Leveraging NASA Products and Decision Support Tools to Enhance Natural Resource Management (NRM) and Monitoring of Biodiversity Resources. Submitted to NASA October 22, 2004. See CAN Description here.

  • Update web-resources: Virtual Geography Department (VGD), Earth's Environment and Society (EES) website with related resources. Originally a project funded by the NSF (National Science Foundation) in collaboration with the University of Colorado. See for example the Great Salt Lake Virtual Tour and Learning Resources site and updating of theHands-on module on Human Impacts on LULC (Land Use / Land Cover Change).

  • Proposal Planning and submission to US State Department: Title: Health, Environment, Livestock and People: An International Learning Community submitted December 12, 2003 for funding by the Fulbright Educational Partnerships Program (ECE/A/S/U-04-03), Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Department of State.

  • Proposal Planning and submission to NSF--Title: GEO-TASK - Geographic Tools and Applications for Sustainable Development and Knowledge (with the Association of American Geographers and other partners) - see: http://www.aag.org/geotask/ - Will (if funded) develop series of 15 case studies on Global Health Toolkit.

    • The vision of Geo-TASK is to provide NSDL stewardship of educational content and services related to geographic tools and applications for sustainable development throughout our society. We seek to make NSDL the gateway of choice for global networking on STEM Education in arenas of GIS, GPS, RS, location-based services and spatial data infrastructure. We propose to develop and serve a targeted community of committed NSDL users and contributors by creating pathways toward those resources through the Geo-TASK partnership of public, private, and academic institutions. The content areas will reflect and inform the global discourse on sustainable development according to the five organizing themes of WEHAB, with special emphasis on the cross-cutting topic of Health.

  • ESSE21 (http://esse21.usra.edu/) College and University Earth System Science Education in the 21st Century. New partner starting October 1, 2004

    Sponsored by NASA through the Universities Space Research Association, ESSE 21 is a collaborative undergraduate/graduate education program offering small grants to colleges and universities to engage a diverse interdisciplinary community of faculty and scientists in the development of courses, curricula and degree programs and sharing of learning resources focused on the fundamental understanding and application of Earth system principles for the classroom and laboratory.

  • Participant: ESSE21 Annual Meeting June, 2004 (Monterey, CA). Presentation: LLUs Plans for Implementing a BS in Earth Systems Science: Partners and Plans (PPT) - see also (Dec. 15, 2004 )- San Francisco, CA : Launching an Undergraduate Earth System Science Curriculum with a Focus on Global Sustainability: The LLU Experience (PPT-85 MB) (PDF-10 MB)

  • Project on Poverty Mapping in Coastal Tanzania with: TCMP (Tanzania Coastal Management Partnership), University of Rhode Island, Coastal Resources Center. Developing Webmap application using Internet Map Server technology in cooperation with the University of Redlands (U of R), MS-GIS program (technical assistance by Adrian Fitzgerald, MS Student, U of R, and Gideon Mazinga, PhD student at LLU). Other collaborators: PovertyMap.net CSUP-CGISR, CEEMaST with ESSE21. Presented at ESRI User Conference, San Diego, CA July 2004 as part of special session on Poverty Mapping with (CGIAR, FAO, FIVIMS, UNEP, USAID, World Bank... Poverty-mapping Work by Loma Linda University - PPT (Powerpoint).

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DOCUMENTS and PUBLICATIONS:

Draft Report: Herpetofauna in the Honduran Pacific Dry Forest Region (July 2006) - for USAID/ MIRA

 

Final Report - Manatee Aerial Surveys, North Coast of Honduras - March/April 2006 - for USAID/ MIRA

 

Thesis: Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske. Status and Distribution of Manatees in Honduras and the Use of Side-Scan Sonar (PDF). LOMA LINDA UNIVERSITY, School of Science and Technology in conjunction with the Faculty of Graduate Studies. June 2007.

 

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MAPPING AND SPATIAL ANALYSIS PROJECTS

All our Mesoamerican project activities have had mapping and spatial analysis as a major element both in outputs (products) as well as analytical method. Below is a sample of some of the mapping, remote sensing, and other spatial analysis products made during the last three years both by students and faculty:

Ecotourism Mapping and Protected-Area Management

ArcGIS SERVER - Interactive Maps:

Webmapping of Trails and Ecotourism Services (Prototype websites) : University of Redlands Student Chisa Nishii (GPS and field-work by Robert Ford and David Nguyen, University of California, Irvine) and students and staff of CURLA (La Ceiba) under guidance of Leonardo Mejia (professor):

 

Ecotourism Services (ESRI-ArcGIS Server) Interactive map of Pico Bonito Park and Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge and the La Ceiba, Honduras area.

http://lucy.institute.redlands.edu/Students/ChisaNishii/EcotourismServices

 

Terrestrial and Aquatic Trails of Pico Bonito Park and Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge.

http://lucy.institute.redlands.edu/Students/ChisaNishii/ProtectedAreasTrails
 

Ecotourism Maps by Robert Ford and Tim Wolff (Loma Linda University) Map of protected areas in northern Honduras who are partners with REHDES (Red Ecologista Hondureña para el Desarrollo Sostenible (CLICKABLE MAP).

 

 

Support to proposal-writing by FUCSA:

Helping the Cuero y Salado Foundation seek funding from TNC(The Nature Conservancy) to purchase private lands and easements to increase protection of critical habitats within the reserve (Cuero y Salado).

Conservation Biology


Fonseca Herp Project - directed by Rob Lovich and Robert Ford.

MAPS and SATELLITE IMAGERY.
 
The Manatee Projects (Belize and Honduras) - see reports and presentations. Daniel Gonzalez and Marie-Lys Bacchus (students with Robert Ford).
 

Arthropods (Insects, Spiders, and their relatives) of Honduras:

Insect biology, photography and mapping (in support of ecotourism) - Peter J. Bryant (professor), and David Nguyen (student), University of California, Irvine with logistical support and GPS work by Robert E. Ford (Loma Linda University).

 

Sustainable Development and Health

 

ADRA / Integrated Development Program (Santa Barbara, Honduras) - Summer, 2007.

Mapping support work by Brad Jamison and Tim Wolff (School of Public Health, Loma Linda University) and Robert Ford (LLU-SST).

 

Water Resources and Coastal Zone Management

 

Work being done by Serene Ong (University of Redlands) and staff of the UNAH-OACS** Remote Sensing and GIS program (Rafael Corrales), the new Disaster Mitigation Masters program at UNAH (Nabil Kawas and staff), and with support from USGS (Eric van Praag) , UNEP-WCMP (Lera Miles), and WRI (World Resources Institute) Lauretta Burke and Zachary Zugg).

See Maps and satellite Imagery (more coming soon).


**UNAH (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras), Department of Biological Sciences with the GIS/RS program based at the National Astronomical Observatory at the university (UNAH) Observatorio Astronomico Centroamericano de Suyapa.

 
 

Fishing zones as identified by local fishermen in Salado Barra and Boca Cerrada.

Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge July 2007. Support to a WWF-sponsored survey of artesanal fishing within and outside the refuge limits--to better understand actual practice in order to both increase protection of species while providing livelihood options.

Done in collaboration with Ester Lopez, WWF consultant and staff of FUCSA (Cuero y Salado Foundation) under guidance of Robert E. Ford, Tim Wolff (LLU), and David Nguyen (UCI):
 

Landuse / Landcover Mapping, Training and Analysis

 

Training in remote sensing, LULC (Landuse/land cover change) analysis, etc.

Bob Ford
Home
Earth System Science Core Courses - LLU-SST - EBS
SPOL 665
Info-Tech.
BIOL 549
Biodiv. &
Conser.
SPOL 624
Nature-Soc.
Thought
SPOL 554
Env. Eq. Eco. Dev. Policy
ESSC 401-2
ES-Sci.
ESSC 541-2
Remote Sensing
ESSC 575 
Field
Practicum
Last Revised: October 23, 2007