Zeke Lunder – Director
Zeke and Erika Lunder started Deer Creek Resources in 2011 and built it into California’s go-to outfit for wildfire analysis and mapping. Zeke handed over leadership of DCR to Firestorm Wildland Fire Suppression in 2017 and works with us to help lead prescribed fire training exchanges with the Fire Learning Network‘s ‘TREX’ program, builds equipment for our mobile mapping division, and provides wildfire management and prescribed fire consulting for public agencies and private landowners. He has been working as a geographer on wildfire and forestry projects since 1995, and is a certified Fire Manager by the Association for Fire Ecology.
To see a detailed C.V. for Zeke, click here.
Henry Schleiger – General Manager
Henry maintains readiness for all of DCR’s mobile mapping assets and supervises onsite wildfire and disaster mapping support projects. He has been a qualified GISS since 2014 and has supported mapping operations on major wildfires across California. Henry served as an electronics specialist in the US Navy, and among other things, he keeps our diesel generators, air conditioners, computers, and vehicles running.
Spencer Holmes – Lead Cartographer & Data Manager
Spencer maintains DCR’s geospatial data library, develops and maintains internal management systems, and supports daily needs of Firestorm and DCR Leadership. He has over six years of experience in land use planning, wetland delineation, vegetation mapping, and environmental document preparation, and is skilled in all major GIS software platforms. Spencer is a qualified Incident GIS Specialist (GISS) with experience on over 35 major forest fires in three Western States.
Dr. Nikki C. Inglis, PhD – Data Scientist
Nikki is a geospatial data scientist based in Northern California. She earned Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology (BA) and Journalism (BS) from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2004 and thereafter worked as a news reporter in several Colorado ski towns. She earned an M.S. in Applied Marine and Watershed Science from California State University, Monterey Bay in 2018, where she focused on geospatial analysis for protected area management, as well as science writing and communication. In 2017, she earned the Fuhs Scholarship for Science Communication and an accompanying internship as a writer for KQED Science. At CSUMB, she discovered her enthusiasm for GIS while studying post-Soberanes Fire hydrology and dam removal effects in the Carmel River Watershed. She went on to pursue a PhD in Geospatial Analytics at North Carolina State University, graduating in 2021, where she built data visualization apps. Her technical specialties include spatially explicit land change models (from fire behavior to urban growth), open-source GIS solutions, data visualization and storytelling, LiDAR processing, high-resolution terrain and viewshed models, and remote sensing data analysis.
Eric McPherren – Technical Project Manager & Geospatial Analyst
Eric has a background in Physics (BS), Structural Geology (MS), GIS/mapping, and teaching college courses. He has work published in the Journal of Structural Geology under the title of “The effects of Dissolution–Precipitation Creep on quartz fabrics within the Purgatory Conglomerate, Rhode Island.” This work involved the mapping of regionally deformed geologic units, as well as examining crystal fabrics. This work led Eric to an internship with the Mt. Rainier National Park, ice velocity surveys, and field work supporting LiDAR flights. Since 2017, Eric has represented Deer Creek Resources as a GIS Specialist and Equipment Technician supporting operations on many of California’s most historic fires. Since early 2022, Eric has filled the roles of geospatial analyst and project manager with Deer Creek Resources in addition to his previous incident support responsibilities.
Andrew Muller – Geographic Information Systems Specialist & LiDAR Analyst
Andrew is a GIS analyst with a variety of experience in natural resources. He received a bachelor’s degree in Geography from University of Oregon and entered the GIS world surveying stream restoration projects throughout the Columbia River basin. For several years, Andrew worked for state, federal and consulting firms analyzing fisheries habitat restoration projects utilizing a variety of survey techniques to quantify the effectiveness of restoration. These projects led to graduate degree work at Portland State University where his thesis focused on analyzing the accuracy of imagery and LiDAR based elevation models. He completed a Master of Science in Geography in 2021 and has worked for Deer Creek since on both active wildland fire incidents and pre-planning.
James Balcomb, MA – Geospatial Analyst & Remote Sensing Expert
James combines a background in natural resources management with technical expertise in the fields of GIS and remote sensing. James completed his BS at Humboldt State University in 2002 where he graduated with high honors. He then went on to complete his MA in 2015 at Appalachian State University where his work focused on the use of drones and photogrammetry for mapping riverine corridors. For this work he was awarded the Outstanding Thesis award for 2015 by the ASU graduate school in the STEM category. He was also invited to present his thesis work at the 2015 North Carolina GIS statewide conference. James also has firsthand experience with wildland fire having worked on a Type 3 engine in the Lake Tahoe area and as a GIS Analyst mapping large California wildfires.
Nate Daly – Planning Project Manager & Writer
Nate’s background is in journalism, writing and editing, and he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. His entrée into wildfire and GIS came when he contacted Zeke as the Dixie Fire approached their respective hometowns of Chester and Westwood. Nate began editing The Lookout, which led to work on the community wildfire protection plan for the Olympic Valley and leading Deer Creek’s CWPP planning for the American River Parkway and the City of Redding.