Service Description

"Mapping a Conservation Vision for Northern Virginia" presented by Matt Gerhart, conservation director of the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust. Many organizations focused on natural resources conservation have limited means, which forces them to prioritize their interventions. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are an important tool for spatial targeting of conservation efforts. Matt will discuss the ways that the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust has used GIS analysis to prioritize their conservation efforts in our region. Matt is the team lead for NVCT’s land conservation program, guiding their strategic conservation plan and supporting projects throughout the Trust’s 15-jurisdiction, 2.2-million-acre service area. Matt joined NVCT in 2019 after serving as San Francisco Bay Area Program Manager for the California State Coastal Conservancy, where he led a multi-million-dollar program to protect natural resources, improve public access, enhance climate resiliency, and conserve the Bay Area’s working lands. Matt also previously worked with the Mendocino Land Trust and as a conservation planner and researcher working on urban and rural conservation projects throughout northern California. Matt holds a Master’s Degree in Geography from the University of California at Berkeley and a Bachelor’s Degree from Yale University.