James Tricker

Education

  • M.S., Geographical Information Systems, 2009. - University of Leeds, Leeds, UK. Thesis: Developing a spatial model for marine wilderness protected areas assessment.
  • B.A., History and Geography, 2003. - Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa.

Background

James became interested in wilderness research whilst studying at the University of Leeds. For his thesis, he developed a spatial model for identifying and assessing potential marine wilderness protected areas.

Thereafter, he worked briefly at the Wildland Research Institute, before joining the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute in order to conduct a wilderness character mapping project for the Death Valley NP Wilderness (DEVA). This project utilized existing datasets, monitoring strategies and a number of GIS techniques to produce a series of maps depicting the condition of wilderness character at the park.

James also developed wilderness character maps for another 4 wilderness areas, which allowed the methods developed at DEVA to be further tested and refined. The long term goal of this work was to provide wilderness managers with a tool that can help them better understand, monitor and manage wilderness character.

Projects

  • Developing wilderness character maps for the Olympic, Denali, Saguaro and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
  • A new project in conjunction with the Forest Service to develop a wilderness character map at Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
  • Working with partners to develop a synthesis of ecosystem representation in the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS).

Presentations

  • A review of mapping wilderness character for National Park wildernesses. - James Tricker and Peter Landres - Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, USDA Forest Service, Missoula, MT. Presentation at George Wright Society Conference. Denver, USA, March 2013.
  • Conceptualizing wildness in marine protected areas: new geographies for evaluating wild seascapes. ~ James Tricker and Steve Carver - School of Geography, University of Leeds. Presentation at WILD9, 9th World Wilderness Congress. Merida, Mexico, November 2009.