CLEAR Staff

Chester L. Arnold, NEMO Program Co-Founder, CLEAR Associate Director
chester.arnold@uconn.edu
Telephone: (860) 345-5230


Chester Arnold is a Water Quality Educator for the University of Connecticut Department of Extension, and the Associate Director of UConn’s Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR), established in 2002. Since 1991, Mr. Arnold has been Co-Director of the NEMO Program, a national award-winning effort that uses remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) technology to educate local land use decision makers about the relationship between land use and water resource protection.

From 1987 to 1994, Chester led the public outreach program of the Long Island Sound Study National Estuary Program. He has authored numerous publications, including national award-winning journal articles and a newspaper column entitled On Long Island Sound. Chester has a B.S. in Environmental Sciences from Wesleyan University and a M.S. in Oceanography from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Daniel L. Civco, CLEAR Director, Professor of Geomatics
daniel.civco@uconn.edu
Telephone: 860-486-0148

Dan Civco is a Professor of Geomatics in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Connecticut. He has more than 35 years experience as an earth resources scientist and educator specializing in remote sensing and GIS applications. He has been involved extensively in research addressing both inland and coastal wetland resources, land use mapping and change analysis, impervious surface detection, and natural resources inventory and analysis. Further, he has been involved in algorithm development and refinement for processing remote sensing and other geospatial data.

In addition to acting as Director of the Center for Land use Education and Research at UConn, he is the founder of its Laboratory for Earth Resources Information Systems (LERIS). He is a University of Connecticut Teaching Fellow and a Fellow of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, of which he is a former Director of the Remote Sensing Applications Division and Chairman of the National Education Committee Chairman. Dr. Civco is a nationally‐recognized educator having received the 2007 USDA National Award for Excellence in College and University Teaching and the 2010 ASPRS SAIC Estes Memorial Teaching Award.

Michael Dietz, CT NEMO Program Director
michael.dietz@uconn.edu
Telephone: (860) 345-5225

Mike is a water resources educator, with primary responsibilities for running the CT NEMO Program. Mike’s position is jointly held between the Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) and the Connecticut Sea Grant College Program at the Avery Point campus. In addition to assuming the leadership of the NEMO Program, Mike will contribute to Sea Grant’s sustainable coastal community development program.

He received both his Masters and Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut, focusing on stormwater and low impact development (LID) techniques. Upon his graduation, he worked with the Connecticut NEMO program from 2005 to 2007 on projects related to LID. He left Connecticut in 2007 to take a position at Utah State University as an assistant professor and extension specialist in sustainable living, where he continued to work on stormwater monitoring and LID, in addition to green building, energy conservation, and water harvesting. He was director of Utah House, a demonstration house for green building techniques.

Juliana Barrett, Assistant Educator, CT Sea Grant
juliana.barrett@uconn.edu
Phone: (860) 405-9106

Juliana Barrett became a member of the NEMO team in 2006. She is an Assistant Educator in Residence with Connecticut Sea Grant College Program at the Avery Point campus and the CT NEMO Program. As an ecologist, her focus is the coastal habitats of Connecticut. She works with the towns and groups working on the conservation, restoration and enhancement of coastal areas. Juliana is developing programs to assist coastal community leaders with technical matters related to the impact of land use on coastal habitats, riparian buffers, habitat management and restoration of coastal habitats.

Juliana is the co-author of The Vegetation of Connecticut, a Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection publication. Previously, Juliana was the Geoffrey C. Hughes Tidelands Program Director with the Nature Conservancy in Connecticut, and also did private consulting. Juliana has a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, a M.A. from the Department of Earth and Planetary Science at Johns Hopkins University, and a bachelor’s degree from Smith College in Biology.

David W. Dickson, National NEMO Network Coordinator
david.dickson@uconn.edu
Telephone: (860) 345-5228


Dave Dickson is the coordinator of the National NEMO Network. As coordinator, he works with each of the NEMO Network programs nationwide and strives to facilitate the open exchange of resources, expertise, educational materials and war stories between the programs. He also assists non-member states seeking to start a NEMO program and join the Network.

Dave has both a J.D. and a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Colorado, where he served as a notes and comments editor of the Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law and Policy. Dave is also a UCONN alum, with a BA in Anthropology and Political Science. His pre-NEMO professional experience includes: coordinating environmental policy and education projects for the National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals (NALGEP), representing municipalities before Congress and federal agencies, serving as a liaison between the University of Colorado and both the state legislature and Congress and coordinating an international project that sought to uncover unethical marketing practices in developing countries.

Kara M. Bonsack, National NEMO Network Communicator
kara.bonsack@uconn.edu
Telephone: (860) 345-5227

Kara Bonsack joined the Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) team in 2002 as the National NEMO Network Communicator. Kara's primary responsibilities include the design and development of NEMO Network related websites and publications and assists the National Coordinator with yearly conferences and training sessions. Kara is also considered the primary designer for CLEAR. As such, she designed and maintains the CLEAR website and designs and produces most of its publications. She also lends her design talents to additional CLEAR programs including website design and development, publication, presentation, poster and logo design and production. Kara is also an avid photographer and has taken many of the photographs used in CLEAR and CLEAR programs materials.

Kara is a graduate of the University of Connecticut with a bachelor of Fine Arts, specializing in graphic design.

Cary B. Chadwick, Geospatial Training Program Coordinator
cary.chadwick@uconn.edu
Telephone: (860) 345-5216


Cary Chadwick joined the University of Connecticut’s Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) team in 2006 as a member of the Geospatial Training Program. As a geospatial educator, her role is to contribute to the hands-on technical training classes offered by the program on the use of geographic information systems and global positioning systems. Cary is also actively involved in a number of collaborative research projects that integrate geospatial technologies to better manage and understand natural resource systems.

Cary is a graduate of Gettysburg College with a B.S. in Environmental Studies. She also holds a M.S. in Environmental Science from the University of New Haven.  

Emily Wilson, Geospatial Educator
emily.wilson@uconn.edu
Telephone: (860) 345-5226


Emily Wilson is the Geospatial Technology Specialist for the NEMO program. Since joining UConn in 2000, her role has been to provide GIS remote sensing information and support to the NEMO Program, the Geospatial Training Program and other related research and outreach efforts. She also does a significant amount of web work with the goal of providing easy access to geospatial information and maps. 

Emily is a graduate of Connecticut College with a BA in environmental science and botany. She received her M.S. in forestry and remote sensing from the University of Maine.

Bruce Hyde, Land Use Academy Director
bruce.hyde@uconn.edu
Telephone: (860) 345-5229

Bruce Hyde is a Land Use Educator for the University of Connecticut’s Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR). He is primarily responsible for coordinating the Land Use Academy, which provides basic training for local land use commissioners. In addition, he provides technical assistance to communities in a variety of areas including reviewing land use regulations, affordable housing education and community outreach.

Bruce is an AICP certified planner who has worked in the planning field for over 30 years. He has served in a wide variety of positions including city planner, regional planner, private sector consultant and local planning commissioner. He has a B.S. in Economics from Lehigh University and a M.S. in Natural Resource Planning from the University of Vermont.

Tom Worthley, Forestry Program, Forest Sustainability
thomas.Worthley@uconn.edu
Telephone: (860) 345-5232

Tom Worthley is Assistant Extension Professor at the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension Service and the University of Connecticut Department of Natural Resources and the Environment. He has written a number of scholarly articles and also teaches courses in Forest Ecology and Management and Dendrology. He has worked extensively on tracts in the UConn Forest and beyond in both outreach and educational activities.

Joel Stocker, Assistant Educator, UConn Cooperative Extension
joel.stocker@uconn.edu
Phone: (860) 345-5233

Joel started with the NEMO program as a graduate assistant within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. After graduating with a Masters in Natural Resources Management and Engineering in 1994 he continued full time with NEMO through the Cooperative Extension System. He currently works with Extension Forestry and supports multiple CLEAR projects with GIS applications and training.

In addition Joel has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University. Prior to joining the University Joel worked as an Engineer in the US Air Force, separating, honorably, as a Captain.

James D Hurd, Research Associate, LERIS
james.hurd_jr@uconn.edu
Telephone: (860) 486-4610


James Hurd is a Remote Sensing Specialist for the University of Connecticut Department of Natural Resources and the Environment (NRE), and serves as the Director of NRE's Laboratory for Earth Resources Information Systems (LERIS). Established in 1982, LERIS is the principal center at UConn for conducting remote sensing and GIS research oriented toward natural resources, ecology, and the environment.

James received both his BS and MS degrees in natural resources from the University of Connecticut with a focus on remote sensing and geospatial technology. Research interests focus on the use of remote sensing and geospatial technology for the detection of land cover, land cover change and landscape characterization.