EDUCATION & OUTREACH SERVICES
• Workshop Organization & Facilitation
• Focus Groups & Surveys
• Stakeholder Identification
• Training Courses
• Educational Materials
PROJECTS & CLIENTS
New College of Florida
As Adjunct Professor in Environmental Studies, Jennifer Shafer led a group of New College students in an intensive GIS research seminar. The team conducted a coastal ecosystem hazards study using GIS to map and analyze the vulnerabilities of the natural and social elements of Sarasota County to sea-level rise. Students gathered existing GIS data and created original shapefiles of sea level rise at 2-, 4-, and 6-feet, using new Lidar elevation raster data. The final product included a series of 20 GIS layouts including maps and analysis of the potential effects of sea level rise on ecosystems, infrastructure, tourism and coastal neighborhoods.
Ocean of Potentiality Field Studies Camp
As senior field biologist, David Shafer coordinated field studies in stream ecology for disabled young adults in Waimanu Valley on the remote northeast coast of the Big Island, Hawaii. The Ocean of Potentiality Project, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), provided outdoor education opportunities for youth with disabilities to encourage them to consider careers in math, science, engineering and technology. This ambitious undertaking involved ferrying disabled students, scientists and their gear by helicopter to this isolated location. David and Jennifer led the students in their study of the native ecology of Waimanu Stream, one of the few remaining pristine watersheds in Hawaii with flourishing populations of endemic Hawaiian plants and animals. This work was imagined and lead by oceanographer Dr. Richard Radtke (Principle Investigator), Ocean of Potentiality; and Dr. James Skouge, University of Hawaii.
Teachers Institute for Conservation Ecology
Jennifer Shafer lead a teacher seminar and workshop in July at the Teachers Institute for Conservation Ecology sponsored and conducted by the Lemur Conservation Foundation in Myakka City, FL. The Institute provides high school teachers the scientific background and specialized tools and techniques to create conservation curricula to take back to their classrooms and share with their colleagues. Jennifer introduced and demonstrated remote sensing and geographic information systems as tools for monitoring and modeling plant and animal populations and their habitats. The Teacher's Institute was organized by Penelope Bodry-Sanders, Lemur Conservation Foundation.
Transportation and Redevelopment Action Committee (TRAC)
As chair of the grassroots citizen group TRAC, Jennifer Shafer lead neighborhood level outreach and visioning to start a community conversation on smart growth in Sarasota. Bee Ridge Road served as a case-study for transforming Sarasota's tired and sprawling corridors using TOD principles to achieve walkable mixed-use neighborhoods connected by multi-modal transit. By distilling hundreds of ideas contributed by citizens participating in Focus Groups, TRAC identified 21 guiding principles to serve as a road map for elected officials, county planners, businesses and neighborhoods. Visit the Bee Ridge TOD Blog to stay up-to-date and to download the Final Report and Citizens Guide on TOD. Jennifer presented TRAC's final report with recommendations to the Sarasota County Commission -- VIEW VIDEO (Jump to Agenda Item 11) This work is supported by SCOPE.
| 
