Information Services
The Information Services Program develops and maintains the program's data management system, web applications such as the Montana Field Guide and Map Viewer, and a variety of other web pages (e.g., dashboards and storymaps) that allow everyone to access the information managed in a user-friendly manner. Staff strive to support the Botany, Ecology, and Zoology programs in centralizing information that documents the distribution and conservation status of Montana's species and habitats in a manner compatible with NatureServe and the network of natural heritage programs across the United States and Canada. We do this, in part, through the development of Survey123 forms that allow partners to enter data digitally in the field on their smart phones and tablets and submit it directly to our data system. We have also developed workflows to automate the incorporation of data gathered through popular citizen-science applications such as iNaturalist and eBird which incorporate a variety of audit reports to ensure data is credible and of high quality.
To efficiently manage the vast array of information in our data system and make sure that the latest information is easily accessible on our web sites, staff develop and maintain a variety of automated procedures using SQL, Python, and other coding languages. These include: automated population of some database fields with triggers, nightly jobs, and tasks; automated creation of some Species of Concern occurrences based on species-specific rules; automated development of predicted habitat suitability models and associated reports; automated procedures that summarize a variety of information in our databases for jurisdictional boundaries across Montana; and nightly audit reports that identify data issues needing review by Botany, Ecology, and Zoology staff or highlight data of particular interest to our partners (e.g., new weed infestations).
Finally, staff oversee mediated requests for Environmental Summary Reports designed to be a document of record in environmental review, permitting, or planning processes and for geodatabases of spatial information for areas of interest that can be used in a requestor's local geographic information system.
Recent Highlights
- Approaching 17,000 species in our data system.
- Approaching half a million structured survey records.
- Surpassed 6 million observation records of species with over 5 million records for native species and over 1 million records for non-native species.
- Completed predicted habitat suitability models for over 2,000 species and cumulative habitat suitability for the biodiversity of all vertebrates, all vascular plant Species of Concern, and all state-listed noxious weeds.
- Created information dashboards for native animals and plants, non-native species, and web tools to support decision processes by the timber and grazing industry.
- Launched new program website.
- Created new database for tracking conservation status rank factors for all species.
Expertise
- Database development and administration
- Custom web application development
- Geographic information systems (GIS)
- Coding in SQL, Python, and R to support automated processes and custom workflows
- Development of ArcGIS Survey123 forms
- Dashboard development in both ArcGIS Experience Builder and Tableau
- Biotics software used by the NatureServe network
- Modeling species' predicted habitat suitability
- Taxonomy of Montana's species and habitats
