University of Massachusetts Amherst

Conservation Assessment and Prioritization System

Conservation Assessment and Prioritization System

CAPS Team

About The Developers

CAPS is being developed by the following core team of scientists at the University of Massachusetts, Department of Environmental Conservation:

Kevin McGarigal – Landscape ecologist; responsible for conceptual development of CAPS and general project oversight.

Scott Jackson – Conservation biologist; responsible for conceptual development of CAPS, wetlands assessment techniques and policy applications, liaison with project sponsors and collaborators, and community outreach.

Bradley Compton – Ecologist/Modeler; responsible for conceptual development of CAPS, software development and coordinating and implementing all applications.

Acknowledgements

The following people have contributed to the development of CAPS: Kasey Rolih (formerly of UMass Amherst), David Goodwin (formerly of UMass Amherst), Andrew Finton, Mark Anderson, Jessica Dyson, Alison Bowden, and Laura Marx (TNC), Lisa Rhodes, Michael McHugh, Lealdon Langley, James Sprague, Michael Stroman, and Thomas Maguire (MassDEP), Jan Smith and Marc Carullo (Mass CZM), Barbara Warren (Salem Sound 2000) and James DeNormandie (formerly of Massachusetts Audubon Society). The statistical models behind the hydrologic alterations, nitrogen enrichment, and phosphorus enrichment were developed by Elizabeth Homa. The stream crossings model was developed by Ethan Plunkett, based on data collected by numerous volunteers in the North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC). Eduard Ene developed C++ software that is used by some of the CAPS metrics. The boat traffic metric was developed by Marc Carullo and James Sprague. We thank Ethan Plunkett for a well-informed review of documentation.

We thank the many people who served on our field and laboratory crews: Kasey Rolih, Theresa Portante, Carolyn Gorss, Charley Eiseman, Karro Frost, Roberta Lombardi, Sally Shaw, Amy Mays, Jennifer Connolly, Eric Eaton, Natasha Worden, Antavis Wings, Shelley Raymond, Emily Stephens, Danielle Christopher, Christine Scesny, Ross Cowman, Ryan Dubois, Ryan Wicks, Michael Schmidt, and Corey Ferland. Nathalie Regis, Joanna Grand, Maili Paige, Dennis Babaasa, Jennifer Seavey, Lloyd Gamble and Liz Willey contributed data and analyses. We also thank the many ecologists who have participated in technical working groups and expert teams over the years: Taber Allison, Robert Askins, Henry Barbour, Alison Bowden, Stephen Broderick, Robert Buchsbaum, Bruce Carlisle, Betsy Colburn, Richard DeGraaf, Jessica Dietrich, Michele Dionne, Hunt Durey, Andy Finton, Sara Grady, Russ Hopping, Christian Jaqcz, Andrea Jones, Rene Laubach, Frank Lowenstein, Scott Melvin, Rick McKinney, Glenn Motzkin, Tom O’Brien, Adrienne Pappal, Tom Rawinski, Don Reid, Ed Reiner, John Scanlon, Tim Simmons, Tim Smith, Pat Swain, Lisa Vernegaard, Peter Vickory, and Cathy Wigand.

Contact Information


Scott Jackson, Extension Professor
Department of Environmental Conservation
Holdsworth Hall
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003
(413) 545-4743
sjackson@umext.umass.edu


Bradley W. Compton
Research Associate
Department of Environmental Conservation
Holdsworth Hall
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003
(413) 577-2179
bcompton@umass.edu