Dawn J Wright
As Chief Scientist of the Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri), the world's leading geographic information system software, research and development company, Dawn aids in formulating and advancing the intellectual agenda for the environmental, conservation, climate, and ocean sciences aspect of Esri's work, while also representing Esri to the national/international scientific community. She maintains an affiliated faculty appointment as Professor of Geography and Oceanography in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. Dawn's research interests include seafloor mapping and tectonics, ocean conservation, environmental informatics, and ethics in information technology. She is also currently into road cycling, apricot green tea gummy bears, pirates, her dog Sally, and SpongeBob Squarepants. Follow her on Twitter @deepseadawn.
Phone: 909-793-2853
Address: 380 New York St.
Redlands, CA 92373
Phone: 909-793-2853
Address: 380 New York St.
Redlands, CA 92373
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Papers by Dawn J Wright
devices and scientific techniques, but also because new GIS technology is aiding us in better
understanding this dynamic environment. The domain of GIS has progressed from applications that
merely collect and display data to complex simulation and modeling and the development of new
research methods and concepts.
GIS has traditionally provided effective technological solutions to the integration, visualization,
and analysis of heterogeneous, georeferenced data on land. As early as the late 1980s, Esri began to
make significant progress in the application of ocean GIS solutions to nautical charting, commercial
shipping, oil spill response, and defense and intelligence. Recent years have seen GIS increasingly
used in ocean science, conservation, and resource management communities, in large part because of
the Esri Ocean GIS initiative launched in 2012 (Wright 2012). Many challenges remain, especially
regarding inconsistencies in ocean data models, formats, standards, tools, services, and terminology.
Toward this end, Esri held a one-time-only Oceans Summit at its headquarters in Redlands,
California, in November 2012 (Wright 2013). Intermediate-to-advanced ocean GIS analysts and
developers attended this invitation-only, high-level strategic workshop. Their goal was to help Esri
move forward in its approaches to ocean-centric software, associated data formats, tools, workflows,
and computing platforms. The success of that summit led to the first annual, all-comers Esri Ocean
GIS Forum, held in November 2013, again in Redlands (Pratt 2013). Presentations at the forum
covered a wide range of topics, including ocean exploration and science, coastal management and
marine spatial planning, coastal resilience and conservation, hydrographic surveying, commercial
ship tracking, and closing technological gaps in multidimensional data handling and analysis.
Attendees lauded these earnest efforts to apply GIS to the ocean (the open ocean as well as the
nearshore or coast) and resolve a range of technological gaps. Going forward, they also understand
that the health and sustainability of the planet still lies in the balance. With water covering 71% of
the planet’s surface, it’s clear that the ocean is critical for our lives, our energy, and our economy.
This vital role is increasingly evident in the latest warnings from the UN Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (2013), the Third US National Climate Assessment (Melillo et al. 2014), the launch of the US White House Climate Data Initiative, and the search for Malaysia Airlines flight
MH 370 (ongoing at the time of this writing). The nongovernment sector has also recognized the
need for action. The Global Partnership for Oceans, XPRIZE Foundation (and its focus on ocean
health), Mission Blue Alliance, and Schmidt Ocean Research Institute are just a few of the new
organizations that have emerged to focus on ocean sustainability.
Human-caused pressures have put the ocean in a state of deep crisis. And if the ocean is in crisis,
the Earth is in crisis. At this pivotal juncture in history, we need good, digestible science to underpin
solutions for
• protecting the ocean and ensuring our safety,
• managing and mitigating conflict among multiple and simultaneous uses of the ocean,
• geodesigning the ocean, and
• discovering and exploring a part of our planet that remains less understood than the
moon, Mars, and Venus.
Ocean Solutions, Earth Solutions is about use-inspired science and realistic solutions for the ocean and
thus the earth. With chapters drawn from among the best science presented at the 2013 Esri Ocean
GIS Forum, this book seeks to put that science into the hands of government decision-makers
and ocean/coastal science researchers, state and local coastal zone managers, and ocean/coastal
GIS practitioners. It also seeks to preserve good scholarship, including the emerging scholarship
of students working on theses and dissertations. The editor and a small cadre of experts conducted
a standard academic peer review of all chapters. The book encourages GIS best practices. Toward
this end, it features an extensive digital supplement, including datasets with accompanying digital
object identifiers (DOIs, in keeping with data publication trends; e.g., The Royal Society 2012;
Leadbetter et al. 2013; Parsons and Fox 2013), geoprocessing workflows, GIS tools packaged as
desktop extensions or web services, mobile apps, Python scripts, and story maps based on the Esri
Story Map app. Digital content for this book, described under “Supplemental Resources” at the end
of pertinent chapters, can be accessed on the Esri Press “Book Resources” webpage at esripress.esri.
com/bookresources. Then, in the list of Esri Press books, click Ocean Solutions, Earth Solutions. On
the Ocean Solutions, Earth Solutions resource page, click a chapter link to access that webpage and the
links to the digital content for that chapter.