From contributed reports
The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) has announced its lecture series for 2013. The lectures, which are co-sponsored this year by the Smithsonian Mason School of Conservation, are held at 7 p.m. Wednesday nights beginning April 3 (and lasting through May 1) at the new SCBI campus (1500 Remount Rd., Front Royal).
Dr. Lee Talbot begins the series on April 3 with an overview of several expeditions into the unexplored areas of the Annamite Mountains of Laos, an area of protected land roughly the size of Delaware. A biodiverse area, research here has to the discovery of three new ethnic groups, five large mammals and a new type of forest.
Tavis Forrester speaks on April 10 about eMammal, a new initiative that allows researchers to better study long-term, broad-scale effects of habitat and climate change on threatened or endangered species. Forrester will show some of the best wildlife pictures and videos from the first season of eMammal and discuss some of the preliminary results from the research team.
Karen Akerlof’s April 17 talk focuses on the sense of local risks and climate change, and whether local residents may indeed by putting a finger on climate change patterns supported by data records. Akerlof will examine both sides within the context of studies based in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Maryland and national survey data.
On April 24, Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira lectures on the forest-climate interaction in an era of global change. Forests play an important role in climate regulation and, in turn, are powerfully influenced by climate. In our present era of global change, these interactions play a key role in shaping the future of both climate and forests.
Budhan Pukazhenthi, an SCBI reproductive physiologist, gives an overview on May 1 of the wild equids research program and discusses exciting developments in an effort to develop artificial insemination technologies for equids. Currently, two species of endangered equids, the Przewalski’s horse and the Persian onager, are part of SCBI’s collection.