2020 lectures are presented virtually, Thursdays at 11am.
Cary Institute’s Scientific Seminar Series provides a forum for engaging with researchers from around the world. Lectures are geared toward an academic audience, with a focus on current scientific advances as they relate to ecosystem science, environmental management, and science education. This year’s lectures will be presented virtually, and include moderated Q&A. Lectures are held on Thursdays at 11AM EDT and are free and open to all. Registration is required to access the Zoom credentials.
This fall, a subset of our scientific seminars will focus on ecosystem resilience. Ecosystem or ecological resilience is often used as a critical goal for management, conservation, and governance actions. It is also put forth as a positive or beneficial trait of ‘natural’ systems. However, despite the value often assigned to resilience, the term has different definitions and component measurements across the ecological literature. At a moment when climate change threatens people and ecological systems, and when society is ‘awakening’ to systemic racism and other forms of oppression that pervade the practice and impacts of science, we felt the time was right to explore ecosystem resilience.
We are delighted to host a virtual seminar series that: (1) focuses on an important and under-examined ecological issue, (2) highlights the growing diversity of the ecological community and challenges us to consider how to support and accelerate this trajectory, and (3) honors the scientific – conceptual, empirical, and applied – work of some emerging leaders in the field.
Oct 1*, Using early warning signals of change to illustrate declining resilience of the biology and biogeochemistry of a northern hardwood forest, Alexandra Contosta Oct 8*, Qualitative and quantitative methods to assess resilience, Juan Rocha Oct 15*, University-community research response to COVID-19 amplified food, energy, and water (FEW) insecurities on the Navajo Nation, Karletta Chief Oct 22*, Archipelagos of risk in the Plantationocene: The urgency of reparative climate justice for Caribbean resilience in an age of global change, Alex Moulton Oct 29, What canopy structure can tell us about plant productivity, Grayson Badgley Nov 5, Critical ecology: Defining socio-physical drivers of "Anthropogenic" ecological change, Suzanne Pierre Nov 12, From semantics to strategy: Building equity into green infrastructure planning with insights from community resilience scholarship, Zbigniew Grabowski Nov 19, Why? From where? And when?: Using co-occurrence data to predict in zoonoses, Gerardo Suzan and Christopher Stephens Dec 3, Title TBD, Amanda Phillips de Lucas Dec 10*, Tradeoffs of risks and rewards by carnivores in dynamic urban environments, Nyeema Harris Dec 17*, Building resilient and equitable cities: Implications of decision-making processes behind urban green infrastructure, Fushcia-Ann Hoover
Over the past decade, green infrastructure (GI) has emerged as a favored intervention within urban areas struggling to resolve issues related to stormwater, pollution, and degraded environmental quality. These installations include, but are not limited to, bioswales, pervious pavements, and green roofs.
The rapid expansion of urbanization across the globe induces restructuring of ecological communities. As apex predators are both particularly sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance and essential for maintaining ecosystem function, understanding adaptive capacity or phenotypic plasticity informs their resiliency in cityscapes.
The promotion of green infrastructure (GI) as a tool for creating resilient and sustainable communities occurs across all levels of government. At the city level, emphasis on health and well-being, equity, and other positive ecosystem services are often used as justification for GI planning and implementation.
