Center for Applied Spatial Ecology (CASE)

The Center for Applied Spatial Ecology (CASE) is administered by New Mexico Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at New Mexico State University.  The spatial analysis laboratory (now known formally as CASE) is located in the Department of Fishery and Wildlife Sciences at New Mexico State University and was created by the Research Unit in 1993 as part of the New Mexico Gap Analysis Project (NM-GAP).  Completion of this project in 1996 stimulated interest among agencies to further develop spatial research in the Southwest.  The laboratory has participated in a variety of research projects and has provided technical assistance to university, non-governmental organizations, and state and federal agencies.  Its goal is to provide technical and biological knowledge and expertise to support natural resource management across spatial and temporal scales.  Research results provide managers with the ecological context needed to make management decisions at a variety of temporal and spatial scales by incorporating field investigations with the application of computer technologies.  Applied research endeavors incorporate principles of biology, wildlife ecology, range ecology, landscape ecology, forestry, and conservation biology.