Man standing in landscape

Ben Sullender

Director of Geospatial Science
About

Ben is a longtime Alaska resident and has been working in GIS in some capacity for 15 years, including as a Spatial Ecologist with Audubon Alaska. He holds an MS in Conservation Biology & Sustainable Development from the University of Wisconsin and is currently completing his PhD in Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington. Fieldwork has taken him from east Africa to central China and, more recently, the North Slope, the North Cascades, and Denali National Park & Preserve. His publications are similarly varied but revolve around themes of spatial conservation, climate change, and movement ecology.

When not playing with maps, Ben can be found exploring Alaska’s mountains, coastlines, and rivers. He is an avid backcountry skier, packrafter, and hunter, and is slowly but surely building a cabin on the Kenai Peninsula along with his wife and their retired (and famous) sled dog Prusik.

Articles by Ben Sullender

Juvenile bird resting on egg
Silver Lining for Shorebirds: New Study Shows Arctic Nesting Species Are Cued into Climate Change
July 28, 2025 — Attentive long-distance migrants are following environmental cues better than expected, showing some shorebirds to be surprisingly adaptable.