I have experience in practical collection of data, the assessment of data, and the writing of detailed assessment reports. My experience in three areas of analysis include background in conducting literature reviews, in-field interviews and scientific data collection techniques; assessment of the data through intensive review and comparison, including analysis using standardized scientific tools and software including ArcGIS and SPSS. I have experience in report writing within a number of disciplines including standard scientific, argument, theory building, literature review and narrative.

Resume PDF Link

J. Wanskasmith

PO Box 16282

Missoula, MT 59808

206-854-4486

Research experience includes research on a thesis on the development of a green economy in the Snake River basin. My thesis analyzed the perceptions of river users of the lower-four Snake River hydroelectric projects and compared them to the economic considerations for the potential of the removal of the projects. This research project involved an extensive literature review, in-field interviewing, data analysis and a project methods report. In addition, several background papers were written that aided in the final project; they are included below.

Skill Objectives of Reports:

• Prospectus Writing
• Literature Review
• In-Field Research Interviewing
• Data Analysis

Reports Available to View (PDF):

1. The Columbia River: A Transition in Regional Employment, Are there Solutions to the Northwest Salmon Crisis?

The Columbia River Project, an independent research project by Jesse Wanskasmith (Private Investigator, PI), bonded high-education curriculum with critical thinking in the field, solidifying research experience across an array of disciplines. The purpose of the Columbia Project was to apply the research process to a subject that allowed for the culmination of higher education experience with real-world investigative experience. To do this, the PI proposed an investigation of Snake River basin economics. The PI asked if the development of a green economy had influenced changes to Snake River users’ (agriculturalists, recreationalists, industry, utilities and natives) perceptions of salmon. The project was segregated into three components: pre-research, in-field research and synthesis. The pre-research section entailed background sources collection and dissemination and project prospectus. The in-field research entailed synthesis of background information with interviews and observations collected in the field. The synthesis section entailed the final write-up or combination of writings into a structured thesis. Each component of the research process required the PI to utilize and apply knowledge from experience in research writing, communications, fisheries biology, local history knowledge, and local industry economics and politics. The PI was successful in applying these components in the in-field research section, gaining experience in interview techniques. The project demonstrated the importance of proper research preparation and execution and aided the PI in connecting components of the PI’s higher education with real world application. Three documents are pertinent to this project: 1- the synthesis document, 2- a description of the research process, and 3- the proposal for the project.

1- The Columbia River: A Transition in Regional Employment, Are there Solutions to the Northwest Salmon Crisis?

2- Snake River Dams and River Users: The Research Process

3- Columbia Project Prospectus

2. Undercurrents of the upper Columbia River

The building of Grand Coulee had regional effects on the people, places and ecology surrounding the newly created Lake Roosevelt. Lake Roosevelt was brought to the water level it is today in 1941. Lake Roosevelt encompasses 130 miles of waterway from the dam to the inflow from the Columbia River, including inflow from the Spokane River at Long Lake Dam, Kettle River at Kettle Falls and Sanpoil River at the Keller ferry. The distinctive change in the landscape in 1941 had regional effects spanning over 100 miles. Lake Roosevelt intersects with numerous ecological environments, cultural environments and political boundaries, acts as a thoroughfare for recreationalists, hosts more than 30 species of fish and connects historical sites. Peoples, towns, cultures, traditions, and the salmon of the river all were moved by the waters of the Columbia. Native Americans traditional use of the river for subsistence fishing was upset and longtime residents of towns were forced to relocate. America’s interest in development created ideas of irrigating the dry basins of Eastern Washington. As a result of irrigation and hydropower, the Chinook salmon of the Columbia became a resource torn between the past, present and future of the river. This paper details some firsthand accounts of these changes to the regions people and places.

3. Hydropower in China: Following the U.S. Hydro Development Framework?

China’s industrialization has mirrored that of the United States in some areas and differed in others. Installation of hydroelectric dams and creating reservoirs is one of the similarities. China, with an abundant coal and hydropower potential for energy production, in an effort to develop, is increasing its coal-fired thermal power production and hydropower capacity in leaps and bounds. Similar to what China is doing today, in the U.S., a dam-building frenzy came at the height of World War II. Dams such as Grand Coulee and Bonneville in Washington State were major players in the electrification of the west, contributing to the development of Western Washington’s aerospace industry and Eastern Washington’s Hanford Reservation. In both countries, rural residents were relocated or simply forced off reclaimed land. In the U.S., relocation came with little argument. Economic gains from dams were tangible and immortalized as critical to national security. In China, communities displaced by large-scale reservoir projects are disproportionately poor and rural, and economic benefits are largely seen to benefit urban environments rather than rural communities. In this paper, we compare these two region’s hydro-modification regimes and ask what the causes for differences and similarities are.

4. Hydro-mitigation efforts by the Spokane and Colville Confederated Tribes

There are currently 132 management plans for salmon restoration in the Upper Columbia Basin (UCB) that include plans from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), Spokane Tribe and Colville Tribe.  Local tribe mitigation plans aim to restore anadromous fish populations and promote resident fish populations through habitat restoration and artificial propagation facilities. Artificial propagation programs aim is to mitigate effects of habitat loss and juvenile loss as the result of hydroelectric projects on the Columbia River. Considered part of hydro mitigation programs for the UCB, the hatcheries are not considered a substitute for natural spawning habitat or spawning wild stocks.  This report examines the role of both tribes in salmon recovery efforts.

Remote sensing data interpretation experience includes evaluation of geospatial project needs with respect to the hyperspatial, hypertemporal, hyperspectral and quantization extents of data. Analyses performed include: interpretation and manipulation of aerial photography, satellite imagery, and LiDAR. Analyses were performed with FUSION and SPRING software packages. Processes included: computer aided segmentation programming, surface classification and accuracy assessment. Research reports below offer examples of kinds of research these techniques would be applicable to.

Geospatial analysis experience includes use of the ArcGIS Arc Map, Arc Catalog, Spatial Analysis tools, Arc Hydro and HEC RAS Hydro analysis toolkits. Projects with the Arc suite included creation and maintenance of geodatabases which included building feature class relationships such as geometric networks and topology rules. Use of Arc Hydro and HEC RAS included the building of a drainage analysis model from DEM LiDAR data and stream network data. Additionally, experience includes working with crime data identifying statistically significant attribute indicators of crime, 3D modeling of stream segments and use of predicted A1 climate change precipitation and temperature changes to identify extent of changes to a regions water resource. Research reports below offer examples of how research in these areas is carried out.

Projects using GIS

• Environmental Variables that Intersect Minority Communities using Raster Spatial Analysis
• Causal Relationships of Crime and Demographic Makeup of Neighborhoods in Spokane, Washington
• Integration of Climate Prediction Models with Biologic and Water Resources Data in a GIS

Geospatial Reports Available to View (PDF):

1. Integration of Climate Prediction Models with Biologic and Water Resources Data in a GIS

An analysis of the upper and middle Snake River basin of future climate change’s effect on precipitation, temperature and water resources. This region is expected to experience greater temperature extremes, which may lead to a decline in salmonid species distribution. Anadromous fish distribution in Idaho is currently threatened with extinction by numerous anthropological variables including irrigation, hydro modification projects, land use and harvesting. Global climate disruption is expected to increase precipitation and temperature to the regions watersheds. The effects on Summer Steelhead maybe pronounced because the species has the largest distribution of anadromous fish in Idaho’s rivers. This research demonstrates that analysis of what role climate change may have on a regions habitat conditions is highly relevant to how these resources are managed. Includes two maps of Idaho outlining potentially affected sub-regions.

2. The Importance of Accurate Measures of Snow Water Equivalent in Determining Potential Loss of Snow-Dominated Runoff Regimes in Washington

A report on the potential relevancy and possible research methods of an analysis of a change in snowpack to the Washington Cascade Mountains. The future of snowcover in Washington has been the question of water managers on both sides of the state. Water managers in the Northwest are dependent on mountain snowpack to supply reservoirs storage systems with inflows at a temporal consistency. Climate predictions for the Northwest has snowmelt earlier, reduced snowpack, reduced summer runoff and higher winter inflows. Remote sensing in detection of these changes is a valuable tool in distinguishing if changes in regional climate are related to decadal oscillations. This report proposes the development of a watershed runoff model incorporating metrologic data, hydrologic data and two sources of remote sensing data. The proposed model is expected to be able to corroborate and extend current observations with a higher hyperspatial and hypertemporal context.

3. Historical Aerial Photos – An Element of Historical Landscape Reconstruction

Aerial photography is a critical component to ecological management. Aerial photos allow for fine-scale feature mapping due to their high level of spatial and tonal detail. In addition to a high hyperspacial level of data, aerial photos offer a unique temporal record of landscape change. Early aerial photos can substantiate historical accounts of river features. Features may include characteristic size and frequency of mainstem river morphology, sediment transport, large woody debris (LWD), riparian age stands, and mainstem use of the floodplain. In this paper, we ask to what extent are aerial photos an important element of terrain reconstruction.

Experience in stream restoration includes process-based recognition of restoration projects. This includes familiarity of geomorphological processes, including hill-slope processes of sediment as it moved through the system from source to deposition. The Puget Sound offered many opportunities to have hands-on experience with landscapes that include glacial melt rivers, mountain streams, post glacial Holocene valleys, floodplain sloughs, and delta and estuary formations. In the Puget Sound, much of the landscape has been developed, creating significant challenges in habitat restoration projects. These include: land owner cooperation, identification of the limiting factors to biotic success, and clean-up of industrial pollutants including the lower Duwamish River outflow superfund site.

Experience in stream restoration includes experience in fisheries biology sampling techniques, fisheries population estimation, proper management of allowable harvest, and writing of stream restoration proposals. Three parts of a stream restoration proposal are included below.

Stream restoration process elements familiar with:

a.     Restoration Goal Setting
b.     Watershed Assessment
c.     Identify Problems and Potential Actions
d.     Selection of appropriate techniques
e.     Prioritization
f.      Design of restoration project
g.     Implementation & Monitoring

Skill Objectives of Report Samples:

• Estimate of current and historical habitat abundance
• Conduct sediment budget & riparian assessment
• Determine areas in need of restoration and protection
• Identify and prioritize restoration actions
• Develop monitoring and evaluation programs

Reports Available to View (PDF):

1. Stillaguamish River Basin Watershed Assessment 2010
2. Proposed Restoration Actions for the Stillaguamish River Basin
3. Proposed Monitoring of Restoration Actions for the Stillaguamish River Basin