About Me
I’m a geospatial developer at the University of Minnesota where I contribute to projects for U-Spatial and GEMS. My background is in geospatial research, with topics including ecosystem service modeling, climate change, conservation prioritization, and land use change. My work seeks to make the outcomes of environmental management decisions more accessible through spatial research, data, and tools. I hold an M.S. in Natural Resource Science and Management from the University of Minnesota and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Carleton College.
Reports, Tools, and Data
MN CliMAT: Minnesota Climate Mapping and Analysis Tool
Funded by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, this project dynamically downscaled climate change projections to 4km resolution. This web tool allows analysis of derived data products.
Liess, S. Roop, H.A., Twine, T.E., Noe, R., Meyer, N., Fernandez, A., Dolma, D., Gorman, J., Clark, S., Mosel, J., Farris, A., Hoppe, B., Neff, P. 2023. Fine-scale Climate Projections over Minnesota for the 21st Century. Prepared for the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership. V1 released October 2023.
Equipping Municipalities with Climate Change Data to Inform Stormwater Management
Funded by the Minnesota Stormwater Research and Technology Transfer Program, this project applied NOAA's Atlas-14 methods for calculating the probability of extreme precipitation events to dynamically downscaled climate change projections in Minnesota.
Noe, R., Birkel, J., Locke, C., Twine, T., Keeler, B., Hall, L., Pinkalla, S. 2021. Equipping Municipalities with Climate Change Data to Inform Stormwater Management. https://hdl.handle.net/11299/227187.
Source Water Protection Challenges and Co-benefits
Funded by the Environment and Natural Resources Trust fund, this project quantifies the costs and benefits of source water protection in Minnesota's Drinking Water Supply Management Areas.
Noe, R., Keeler, B., Mayer, T., 2021. Source Water Protection Challenges and Co-benefits. https://hdl.handle.net/11299/227195.
Assessing the benefits of OHF investments
Commissioned by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, this report quantifies what environmental benefits have been protected and restored in the first 10 years of the Legacy Amendment's Outdoor Heritage Fund.
Noe, R., Locke, C., Lonsdorf, E., Keeler, B., Host, G., Gorzo, J., Johnson, L., Grinde, A., Joyce, M., Bednar, J., Dumke, J., 2020. Measuring what matters: Assessing the full suite of benefits of LSOHF investments. https://hdl.handle.net/11299/220181.
Climate change projections for Minnesota
Funded by the Environment and Natural Resources Trust fund, this project created dynamically downscaled climate change projections for Minnesota. This report highlights some of the key findings. Download the source data here.
Noe, R., Keeler B., Twine T., Brauman K., Mayer T., Rogers M. (2019). Climate change projections for improved management of infrastructure, industry, and water resources in Minnesota. https://hdl.handle.net/11299/209130.
Assessing the benefits of ENRTF funded conservation easements
This report applies the data and methods created for the Parcel Environmental Benefit Assessment Tool to past acquisitions funded by the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
Noe, R., Keeler, B., Johnson J., Kilgore, M., Taff, S., Polasky, S., 2018. Assessing the benefits of ENRTF funded conservation easements. https://hdl.handle.net/11299/227188.
Parcel Environmental Benefit Assessment Tool
Developed for the Legislative-Citizen Comission on Minnesota Resources, this web tool allows conservation practitions to quickly score a proposed acquisition accross 11 environmental benefit metrics, and compare it to hundreds of thousands of other parcels in the state.
Noe, R., Keeler B., Johnson J., Kilgore M., Taff S., Polasky S., 2018. Parcel Environmental Benefit Assessment Tool, version 1.2. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota. http://pebat.umn.edu.
Publications
Keeler B., Dalzell B., Gourevitch J., Hawthorne P., Johnson K., Noe R. (2019). Putting people on the map improves the prioritization of ecosystem services. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2004
Noe, R., Keeler, B., Kilgore, M., Taff, S., Polasky, S. (2017). Mainstreaming ecosystem services in state-level conservation planning: progress and future needs. Ecology and Society, 22(4), art4. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09581-220404
Chaplin-Kramer, R., Sim, S., Hamel, P., Bryant, B., Noe, R., Mueller, C., Rigarlsford, G., Kulak, M., Kowal, V., Sharp, R., Clavreul, J., Price, E., Polasky, S., Ruckelshaus, M., Daily, G. (2017). Life cycle assessment needs predictive spatial modelling for biodiversity and ecosystem services. Nature Communications, 8, 15065. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15065
Sun, J., Twine, T. E., Hill, J., Noe, R., Shi, J., Li, M. (2017). Effects of Land Use Change for Crops on Water and Carbon Budgets in the Midwest USA. Sustainability, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9020225
Noe, R., Nachman, E., Heavenrich, H., Keeler, B., Hernández, D., Hill, J. (2016). Assessing uncertainty in the profitability of prairie biomass production with ecosystem service compensation. Ecosystem Services, 21, 103–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2016.05.004