I’m Tony, an ecologist, outdoor enthusiast, and naturalist based in Seattle, WA. I’m interested in bringing people outdoors to learn and grow in nature, with the hope of inspiring committed advocacy for natural spaces of all kinds. I also build data-enabled approaches to conserve ecological systems facing threat from climate change. I’m currently working on geospatial data pipelines for an industry-leading backcountry navigation app called Gaia GPS.
I earned my Ph.D. in 2020 from the Biology department at the University of Washington, advised by Dr. Lauren Buckley. I was a Data Science Fellow at UW’s eScience institute and a recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. I used techniques from data science to better predict biological responses to climate change. See more here. Before my Ph.D., I graduated Tufts University in Medford, MA in 2015, where I got my B.S. in Computer Science and Biology.
I live in Seattle, Washington. I like to run, ski, hike, backpack, and climb high peaks. I’m from Rhode Island, and I have lived in Colorado and Massachusetts. When I’m not in school or recreating outdoors, I work as an Outdoor School instructor at REI. Take a class with us!
For the love of stories about places, the things we love to do in them, and the people who care for them, I help co-produce a podcast called Topophilia, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts.
You can e-mail me at tony.cannistra@gmail.com.
