Chris Pelkie

My chief responsibility is to organize and archive the vast data collection of the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, now more than 2.5 petabyte and growing at approximately 5–10% per year. I have created and manage a FileMaker database for this purpose and also manage several NAS devices and several computers and servers for the analysis staff. After graduating from Cornell (A.B., majoring in neurobiology and behavior), I have been a carpenter’s assistant, professional musician (pedal steel guitar), VW mechanic and shop owner, manager of a foreign car parts store, then rejoined Cornell as a field worker for pomology (picking apples, pruning thousands of trees in Ithaca winters), research technician for Dr. Kraig Adler in Neurobiology and Behavior studying animal orientation and navigation, hired into Cornell Computer Services (later known as CIT) to lead the new Apple (Macintosh) development center, moved on to the Cornell Theory Center as a visualization specialist for nearly two decades, then came to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in 2009 as an analyst and IT person. I earned an M.P.S. in communication while working at CIT and the Theory Center, and traveled extensively during those positions to deliver numerous lectures and workshops around the world on various computer technologies (Macintosh, laser printing, desktop publishing, scientific visualization). I also ran a private consulting company for 18 years at the same time, and developed visualizations and taught workshops for major companies (IBM, MCI, etc.) and government agencies such as NASA, NIST, and NREL.