Keith Semler Email & Phone Number

I just received my master’s degree from Western Kentucky University in Geoscience with a focus on environmental science and a specialty in karst land management during the summer 2019 semester. During the past two years I have extensively researched management of protected units to prevent degradation due to anthropogenic impacts. My thesis was the creation of a Karst Tourism Management Index (KTMI) which not only asses tourist anthropogenic impacts, but also would relate to management which plans, policies, or actions were potentially lacking, and provided guidance for implementation of actions to help offset any degradation occurring at the site. The big advantage of creating this environmental index was the ability to fully analyze and understand how management of protected sites is conducted. The KTMI was focused on karst landscapes but in order to examine and protect the environment a full understand of all environmental issues is critical. This led to the KTMI being very holistic covering a wide range of different environmental factors from wildlife management, vegetation management, geology, hydrology, environmental monitoring and much more. This allowed me to gain some expertise in multiple areas which from my research is very crucial in management to help understand and protect the environment. It is understood pure conservation is impossible and sacrifices will have to be made in order to obtain a balance between finances, preservation, and recreation, but with appropriate research and planning this can be achieved.