staff_bios

Erik Murdock is currently the Principal Investigator of the Wilderness Rock Climbing Study for the National Park Service at Joshua Tree National Park and a doctoral candidate at the School of Renewable Natural Resources at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He has worked as a Recreation Hazard Assessment Team member in Hawaii (2002), as a manager for the USDA Forest Service Region 5 (California) Wilderness Recreation Use Monitoring Project (2000-2002), and as a professional geologist for private consulting firms (1996-1999) and the Bureau of Land Management (1999-2001). Erik has a B.S. and a M.S. in geology. Erik became interested in wilderness management in 1992 while taking an undergraduate course called Southwest Field Studies at Earlham College. Although this was his formal introduction to land management, he has been fascinated with U.S. wild lands for the past 16 years. He has rock climbed, bicycled, backpacked, and paddled throughout the U.S. Erik was awarded Access Fund Preservation Grants in 2001 and 2003 to develop predictive simulations of rock climbing in designated wilderness areas. He has spoken at various recreation conferences including the Access Fund Grassroots Summit, 2003. His current field of interest includes finding new techniques for monitoring, simulating and predicting the impacts of recreation on wilderness resources in order to design fair and balanced wilderness policy.

JTNP Wilderness Rock Climbing Study: Staff Bios
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Principal Investigator: Erik Murdock Erik Murdock is currently the Principal Investigator of the Wilderness Rock Climbing Study for the National Park Service at Joshua Tree National Park and a doctoral candidate at the School of Renewable Natural Resources at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He has worked as a Recreation Hazard Assessment Team member in Hawaii (2002), as a manager for the USDA Forest Service Region 5 (California) Wilderness Recreation Use Monitoring Project (2000-2002), and as a professional geologist for private consulting firms (1996-1999) and the Bureau of Land Management (1999-2001). Erik has a B.S. and a M.S. in geology. Erik became interested in wilderness management in 1992 while taking an undergraduate course called Southwest Field Studies at Earlham College. Although this was his formal introduction to land management, he has been fascinated with U.S. wild lands for the past 16 years. He has rock climbed, bicycled, backpacked, and paddled throughout the U.S. Erik was awarded Access Fund Preservation Grants in 2001 and 2003 to develop predictive simulations of rock climbing in designated wilderness areas. He has spoken at various recreation conferences including the Access Fund Grassroots Summit, 2003. His current field of interest includes finding new techniques for monitoring, simulating and predicting the impacts of recreation on wilderness resources in order to design fair and balanced wilderness policy.
Research Advisor: Randy Gimblett Randy is a professor in the School of Renewable Natural Resources, University of Arizona in Tucson. He has driven the development of RBSim, a recreation simulation software. Randy is the principal investigator for numerous projects in National Park Service, USDA Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management wild lands. He is also an avid runner and backcountry enthusiast.
Climbing Ranger: Scott Fischer Scott is the climbing ranger at Joshua Tree National Park. In addition to his regular duties at the park, Scott helps maintain wilderness monitoring equipment for the Wilderness Rock Climbing Study. He is writing the text for a new Joshua Tree National Park climbing brochure, and is instrumental in lobbying for a climber's kiosk at Intersection Rock and other climbing information venues around the park. Scott is an avid climber and pilot.
Regular Volunteers: Bill Souder started volunteering for the Wilderness Rock Climbing Study in Spring, 2002. He has been instrumental in data collection, equipment development, and equipment maintenance. Bill is a retired aerospace engineer who currently lives in Yucca Valley, CA. He loves hiking and exploring wild lands in his Land Cruiser. Maggie Lucas is currently a senior at Prescott College, AZ. She will be administering the wilderness climbing survey during Fall, 2003. She is a climber who hopes to pursue a career in recreation management.