Department of Biology

 Note: Seminar in MSEC 103

Rescheduled for 10/28 in MSEC 101

Owen Cortner is a Pre-Doctoral Fellow at Boston University's Global Development Policy Center and will be attending ETH Zürich for his Ph.D. in Environmental Policy. His talk is: "Land Cover and Land Use Change in Georgia and the Caucasus"

Abstract:

Georgia, a former Soviet Union Republic, has experienced more political, economic and social change in the last 30 years than most countries. But the environmental implications of these extreme events remain largely unknown - the region is understudied, and no national forest inventory has been completed in 15 years. This work provides a comprehensive analysis of Georgia’s land change patterns and terrestrial carbon dynamics during its dramatic modern history. We analyze the impacts of shifting policies, globalization, and economic and political turmoil by mining the rich archives of satellite observations from NASA and other space agencies, as well as national census data and local inventories. An investigation based on time series analysis of satellite observations of surface reflectance that allows us to track the pixel-level land dynamics over the last 30 years will provide a comprehensive understanding of how Georgia’s recent history has impacted land use. Based on the history of land use, we will model the associated carbon dynamics using a spatiotemporal carbon bookkeeping model. Panel regression models will explore how local and global socioeconomic change has influenced land change. These analyses, together with estimates of potentially available cropland, will inform projections of future forest and cropland dynamics under different socioeconomic and climate scenarios. Using these data, local collaboration and implementation will aim at informing policy for more sustainable land use.

Dr. Richard Prince is the Founder and CEO of Now Biopharma, LLC, a boutique Clinical CRO and Life Science consultancy that specializes in drug development, clinical research, regulatory affairs, scientific management, quality operations, and GxP regulatory compliance.  

His talk is “Critical Success Factors for Life Science StartUps”

Rescheduled from 9/16 

Dr. Filbrun is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, NM. His talk is:

"Aquaculture, oil spills, and aridification: human impacts on fishes."

20 minute presentations of graduate student research: Sergio de Tomas Marin