Meghan likes working for scrappy little organizations, which is one of the things that drew her to PLJV. She also enjoys working on applied problems — asking and answering original questions for the tangible purpose of improving the landscape.

At PLJV, she does this by applying the principles of geospatial science to target conservation activities, assess and understand the landscape context and augment conservation science with a spatial component. While often this work happens behind the scenes, some of it goes into creating interactive tools for partners and producers, like the Playa Map and Playa Recharge and Wetness Estimators.

The opportunity to see real change in the region is what drives Meghan, along with the ability to be part of a partnership doing fantastic work in getting the general public and policymakers to wake up to the precious nature of grasslands.

Meghan has a master’s degree in Natural Resources and another in public policy. Her graduate work focused on spatial analysis and its application to conservation, which means she is usually involved in finding answers to all the “Where?” or “How much?” questions that arise. She also helps PLJV staff with various other functions, like recommending mystery novels to anyone who will listen.