 Hi, I'm Nathan Pekelec and I'm here to welcome you to Conservation GIS. Geospatial professionals are invaluable to environmental management and conservation organizations. They're often the glue that holds things together and they're relied upon to be interdisciplinary experts. In developing this course I've drawn on my own experience as a GIS specialist and data manager for the US National Park Service to assemble what I wish I knew then into the curriculum. In the course, emphasis is placed on the spatial data and geospatial technologies that are most useful to environmental conservation efforts. Finally, students are asked to push the limits of their own technical GIS skills by completing a term project. My hope is that by taking this course you're better prepared to serve as an environmental geospatial professional.