Walt Jaslenek is currently working on a PhD at the Department of Environmental Conservation with a concentration in Human Dimensions. His research interests include the use geospatial technologies and how they can help make better decisions. His current research entails looking at the combined use of geographic information systems (GIS) and geospatial visualizations; and their involvement and impact in wind energy planning.

He received generous first year funding from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on September 10th 2014 to initiate development of a Geographical Information System (GIS) based Decision Support framework that will look at bird foraging patterns and nest success around habitats in areas that could be impacted by wind turbine placement and siting.