Jennifer A. Lentz's Research

Research Interests

Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) & various types of Spatial Analysis to better understand environmental processes, disease outbreaks, & declines in ecosystem health.

My Professional work has focused primarily on environmental and climate change related issues.
Lead researcher and coauthor for the following report commissioned by Mayor Robert Garcia on how to make Long Beach a model of a "climate resilient" city: AOP (2015) City of Long Beach Climate Resiliency Assessment Report. Prepared by the Aquarium of the Pacific (AOP), for the City of Long Beach, California: 89p.
		Powerpoint Presentation Summarizing the Report
More information about this report, along with links to both the report and report appendices are available on the Aquarium of the Pacific's website (link)

Lead author of a chapter in Esri's 2015 peer reviewed book, *Ocean Solutions, Earth Solutions, which explores how GIS tools can be used to help manage and protect the oceans. Lentz JA, Yam E, LeBeau A, Bader D (2015) Chapter 12* More Than Maps: Connecting Aquarium Guests to Global Stories. In: Ocean Solutions, Earth Solutions, edited by Wright DJ, 223-244. Redlands, CA: Esri Press. More information about this book can be found online at: http://esriurl.com/ocnsolns and http://www.esri.com/esri-news/releases/15-3qtr/ocean-solutions-earth-solutions This book is available for purchase through Esri Press and Amazon.

My Graduate Research has focused on using the techniques from the disciplines of both Medical Geography & Spatial Epidemiology to develop Geospatial Analytical Protocols for use in the study Coral Health.
Concentrations	Major: Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Minor: Department of Geography and Anthropology (with a GIS concentration)
Dissertation Title	"Developing a Geospatial Protocol for Coral Epizootiology"
Doctoral Committee	Dr. Nan D. Walker (Chair of Major) Dr. Michael Leitner (Chair of Minor)	Dr. Michael E. Hellberg Dr. Dubravko Justic	Dr. Richard B. Aronson (Professor from FIT) Dr. John P. Wefel (Dean's Representative)/span>
Graduate Funding	Fall 2005 - Spring 2009 Board of Regents Fellowship in Coastal Processes Summer 2006 Teaching Assistant for "Coral Reef Ecology," a graduate-level course br /> Fall 2009 - Spring 2010 Teaching Assistant for "Introduction to Oceanography," an undergraduate-level course Fall 2010 - Spring 2012 Funded through a Graduate Assistantship to create an interactive map-based website
Publications	1) Lentz JA, Blackburn JK, Curtis AJ (2011) Evaluating Patterns of a White-band Disease (WBD) Outbreak in Acropora palmata Using Spatial Analysis: A Comparison of Transect and Colony Clustering. PLoS ONE 6(7): e21830 (or click here for a pdf of the full publication, including the supplemental material) 2) Lentz JA (2012) Developing a Geospatial Protocol for Coral Epizootiology. Louisiana State University, Doctoral Dissertation in the Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences. 319 pp. (link)
Presentations	1) Lentz JA , Curtis AJ, Sammarco PW (2007) Designing a Methodology for the Identification of Significant Coral Disease Clusters. 33rd Conference of the Association of Marine Laboratories of the Caribbean (AMLC), St. Thomas, USVI. (Oral Presentation) 2) Lentz JA (2008) Using Medical Geography to Study Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Coral Bleaching. Graduate Student Symposium (GSS), Louisiana University's Marine Consortium (LUMCON), Chauvin, Louisiana. (Oral Presentation) 3) Lentz JA , Curtis AJ, Sammarco PW, Mayor PA (2008) Applying Medical Geography to Identify Spatial Hotspots of Coral Diseases. 11th International Coral Reef Symposium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Oral Presentation) 4) Lentz JA (2008) Can GIS-based spatial analysis be used to better understand the decline in Caribbean coral health? 2nd International Symposium on Geospatial Health (GnosisGIS), New Orleans, Louisiana. (Oral Presentation) 5) Lentz JA (2009) An examination of how GIS and spatial analysis can be used to better understand coral health. Graduate Student Symposium (GSS), Dauphin Island, Alabama. (Oral Presentation) 6) Lentz JA (2009) An examination of how spatial analysis can be used to better understand coral health. LSU's School of the Coast and Environment's Graduate Student Symposium (GSS), Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Oral Presentation) 7) Lentz JA (2012) Developing a Geospatial Protocol for Coral Epizootiology. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Oral presentation of dissertation research on March 29th, 2012 from 1-2pm (CST), open to the public and part of my Doctoral Defense. (link)

My Undergraduate research focused on work from a semester I spent abroad and from work I did as part of a summer internship which I turned into my undergraduate honor's thesis. I spent the spring semester of my junior year studying in the Turks & Caicos Islandswith the School for Field Studies. My research there focused on studying *diseased Acropora palmata* coral populations around South Caicos Island. I returned from my semester abroad to do a summer internship with the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, in Lothian, Maryland. At the end of my internship, the director of the program offered to let me analyze Jug Bay's 9-year dataset on Eastern Box Turtles found in (or near) the sanctuary as part of my senior thesis research project. My resulting thesis used GIS to study the Home Range & Habitat Preferences of Eastern Box Turtles**, in order to better understand the differences between life-histories of female, male, and juvenile turtles.
Concentrations	Major: Interdisciplinary Concentration in Environmental Sciences with a Marine focus Minor: Studio Art
Honor's Thesis Title	"Home Range and Habitat Preferences of Terrapene carolina carolina at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, Maryland."
Thesis Advisor	Dr. Ernest H. Williams, Jr.
Publications & Technical Reports	1) Lentz JA (2004) *Are South Caicos Acropora palmata* populations infected by diseases? South Caicos, TCI, School for Field Studies. Directed Research Paper: 17pp. (link) 2) Lentz JA** (2004) Home Range and Habitat Preferences of Terrapene carolina carolina at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, Maryland. Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, Lothian, Maryland. Technical Report: 21pp. (link) 3) Lentz JA (2005) Home Range and Habitat Preferences of Terrapene carolina carolina at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, Maryland. Hamilton College, Clinton, New York. Honor's Thesis. 340 pp. (link) 4) Schelten CK, Brown S, Gurbisz CB, Kautz B, Lentz JA (2006) Status of Acropora palmata populations off the coast of South Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands. Proc Gulf Caribb Fish Inst 57:665-678. (link)
Presentations	1) Lentz, JA (2004) *How prevalent are Acropora palmata* diseases around South Caicos? South Caicos, TCI, School for Field Studies. Oral Presentation to the residents of South Caicos. (link) 2) Schelten CK, Brown S, Gurbisz CB, Kautz B, Lentz JA** (2004) Status of Acropora palmata populations off the coast of South Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands. 57th Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute Meeting. St. Pettersburg, Florida. 3) Lentz JA (2004) Home Range and Habitat Preferences of Eastern Box Turtles at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. Oral Presentation to the "Friends of Jug Bay" non-profit organization & open to the public. (link) 4) Lentz JA, Swarth CW, Williams EH (2005) Home range and habitat preferences of Eastern Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, Maryland. Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (JMIH), Tampa, Florida. (Poster Presentation)

I am also very passionate about the Environment and have been actively involved in various programs which
focus on incorporating sustainability into the classroom as well as teaching people how to live more
sustainable and environmentally friendly lives.

Additional information about my research can also be found in my CV

(this page was last updated on February 08, 2016)