Chris Brehme, Assistant Professor in the Geography Department, is part of a multi-partner collaboration led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution that received a two-year award from the Northeast SeaGrant Consortium to analyze the potential interaction between endangered whales and lobster gear along the Maine coast. Other partners include the Institute for Broadening Participation, Maine Lobstermen’s Association and New England Aquarium.
With the help of geography major Amy Curran, Chris is using Geographic Information Systems
to analyze information collected at small meetings in dozens of fishing harbors. At these meetings, lobstermen use paper charts and pens to indicate the location and timing of trap placement. These data will be combined with whale sightings information as part of a risk reduction model that the researchers hope will inform a more balanced approach to conservation management.
Chris Brehme joined the faculty of the Department of Geography in the Fall of 2009. Dr. Brehme recently completed a Ph.D. in Geography at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, with an emphasis in Geographic Information Science. At Buffalo, he was a Fellow in the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT), an NSF-funded program that promotes interdisciplinary training in the sciences. At Keene State, Dr. Brehme teaches courses in Physical Geography, GIS, Remote Sensing and Cartography. Before earning his Ph.D., he worked as a GIS professional for community development and environmental organizations in Maine, and helped rural communities build local GIS capacity. Dr. Brehme’s current research interests center on Human-Environment Interaction, particularly in coastal environments. He is also interested in geographic cognition, participatory GIS and geographic visualization. His research and training in Geography have taken Dr. Brehme to the Pacific Northwest, Great Britain, Western Australia, coastal New England and the Canadian Maritimes.