Coupling Humans and Complex Ecological Landscapes
2009 US-IALE Symposium
Snowbird, Utah | April 12-16, 2009
What is landscape ecology up to in the climate change debate?
| Date: | Tuesday, 14 April |
| Time: | 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm |
| Cost: | Free |
| Organizers: | Felix Kienast (Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL) and K. Bruce Jones (U.S. Geological Survey) |
| Enrollment: | Must pre-register on registration page. |
| Location: | TBA |
| Note: | This workshop is organized on behalf of the IALE Executive Board and is linked with a Special Symposium on Tuesday morning with the same title. |
The IALE Executive Committee wants to enhance exchange of ideas among
members on how landscape ecology can help inform and resolve some of
the world's greatest environmental problems. On the website, every
half a year a new key topic will be presented and discussed, which might
help scientists to interact and find out about approaches that are being
developed by landscape ecologists from around the world. Thus, IALE
intends to facilitate building networks of scientists, evoke opinions
about future challenges, and share new insights and activities related
to each key topic. Every 6 months, a new key topic will be launched at
the IALE website and be opened for discussions, comments, and invitations
to cooperate. Apart from researchers, landscape planners and architects
as well as young researchers and students are especially invited to
share their thoughts on the subject. The first key topic will
highlight how landscape ecology can inform decisions about adaptation
to climate change research.
The aim of this workshop is to:
- Discuss the involvement of landscape ecologists in climate change research on adaptation of landscapes, and identify key research questions for the coming years.
- To discuss the IALE key topics with IALE members and evoke thoughts about improvements to the proposed process. What is the opinion on the key topics issue on the website? How should it be developed further? What is the added value to IALE and its members?
About the Organizers:
Felix Kienast is currently Titular Professor for Landscape Ecology at the Department of Environmental Sciences at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. His research concentrates on: (a) the evaluation of historic and present landscape patterns and processes; (b) landscape models designed for simulating potential future landscape development; and (c) the interactions between landscape change and ecological as well as socio-economical properties. He sits on the Editorial Boards of Landscape Ecology, Environmental Management, and is Bulletin Editor of the International Association for Landscape Ecology.
K. Bruce Jones is Chief Scientist for the Biology Discipline at the USGS in Reston, Virginia. He has been involved in a number of landscape ecology research projects from around the world and is currently the President of IALE.