Lunch & Learn: Use of GIS in Conservation of the World’s Big Cat Species

In this talk, Ms. Petracca will describe some of her latest work with the NGO Panthera, which is dedicated to the conservation of the world’s big cat species. She will discuss the current state of four of the world’s most imperiled cats (the jaguar, lion, tiger, and snow leopard) and the various conservation measures Panthera is employing to ensure their survival. One key aspect of her work with Panthera is the Jaguar Corridor Initiative, a groundbreaking effort that aims to conserve jaguar habitat from northern Mexico to northern Argentina.

Lisanne Petracca graduated from Tufts University in 2006 with degrees in Environmental Studies, Psychology, and Biomedical Engineering Systems. Following two years in the Marshall Islands as a science and english teacher, Ms. Petracca attended Duke University to achieve a Masters Degree in Ecosystem Science and Conservation. During her time at Duke, Ms. Petracca was able to spend two field seasons with the conservation NGO Panthera directing a jaguar conservation project in Belize. This project consisted of collecting hundreds of interviews with local hunters and farmers regarding the presence of jaguars and their main prey species, which were then used to identify two key jaguar corridors as part of Panthera’s Jaguar Corridor Initiative. Pathera formally hired Ms. Petracca as a Geospatial Analyst following her graduation from Duke in 2010. Her current role is mainly to use the interview data collected throughout Central America to identify new jaguar corridors, as well as to manage a database of Panthera’s collared snow leopards and jaguars.

For updated information on this and other ENVS Lunch & Learns, see the ENVS website.