Hello ECOLOGers, UCS and UCS staff have several super interesting events and sessions at ESA this year - check them out here and below, and make sure to RSVP to the social and the screening of the award-winning documentary Chasing Coral!
Union of Concerned Scientists at the Ecological Society of America 2017 Annual Meeting August 7-11, 2017 | Portland, Oregon | Say Hello to UCS at ESA! Stop by the booth #503 to talk with UCS staff and scientists, pick up copies of our latest reports, and find out how you can join our efforts to put rigorous, independent science to work to solve our planet's most pressing problems. UCS buttons, “Got Science?” stickers, and other materials will be available while supplies last. To stay informed about our work throughout the year, join the UCS Science Network. | The Union of Concerned Scientists cordially invites you to the following events and presentations at the Ecological Society of America (ESA) 2017 Annual Meeting, featuring experts from UCS and the academic, government, and nonprofit sectors. The conference will take place at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. EVENTS UCS Networking Happy Hour Wednesday, August 9 | 5:30–7:30 p.m. | Spirit of 77 Bar, 500 NE MLK Blvd. (across from the convention center)Meet and mingle with Ricardo Salvador, director of the UCS Food and Environment Program; Gretchen Goldman, research director in the Center for Science in Democracy at UCS; Astrid Caldas, climate scientist in the Climate & Energy Program; and other UCS staff to learn about our work. This reception will be a great opportunity to connect with others who are using their scientific expertise to positively influence our health, safety, and environmental protections, and to learn about ways to be involved. Snacks and a complimentary drink will be provided. Please RSVP to attend.Movie Screening: Chasing Coral Thursday, August 10 | 5:00–8:00 p.m. | Living Room Theater, 341 SW Tenth Ave.Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. A team of divers, photographers, and scientists set out on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why—and to reveal this underwater mystery to the world. This special screening will wrap with a question-and-answer session with UCS climate scientists about the film. Join us for a pre-screening reception at 5:00 p.m., the screening begins at 6:00 p.m. Please RSVP to attend. PRESENTATIONS The Endangered Species Act Under Attack: Opportunities for Independent Science (SYMP 3) Monday, August 7 | 1:30–5:00 p.m. | Portland Ballroom 253 Gretchen Goldman, research director, Center for Science and Democracy at UCS Charise Johnson, research associate, Center for Science and Democracy at UCS This session discusses the role of independent science in the Endangered Species Act in the current political context and explores ways that scientists can participate in and inform agency decisionmaking at FWS and NOAA. Charise will present on the new UCS toolkit for scientists engaging on the Endangered Species Act and Gretchen Goldman will moderate.Ecological and Societal Impacts of Transitioning to More Sustainable Agroecosystem Management: The Case of Beef Production Systems (COS 36-7) Tuesday, August 8 | 8:00–11:30 a.m. | Meeting Room B112 Marcia DeLonge, senior scientist, UCS Food & Environment Program Analyses of industrial farming and common diets have offered insight into some of the ecosystem consequences of food, and particularly beef, production. In this talk, we explore ways that conventional cropping systems that currently support beef production could be redesigned based on agroecological principles (conservation cropping, managed grazing), and evaluate possible tradeoffs related to food production as well as soil carbon and nitrogen fluxes, fuel use, grey and green water use, and farmer profits.Physiological Responses of White Ash Trees to One of the Driest and Warmest Years in US History (COS 30 – Climate Change: Plants II) Tuesday, August 8 | 8:00–11:30 a.m. | Meeting Room B118-119 Jacob Carter, research scientist, Center for Science and Democracy at UCS Extreme years (i.e., years in which temperature or precipitation dramatically deviate from long-term mean conditions) are expected to become more common as climate change progresses. In this talk, Jacob Carter will discuss results from an eight-year study investigating the effects of the warmest year in U.S. history (2012), which was also one of the driest at this study site, on the physiological functioning of 41 populations of white ash trees sourced from across the U.S. and planted in a common garden in Lawrence, Kansas.Linking Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in a Changing World with the Paris Climate Agreement (WK 44) Tuesday, August 8 | 11:30 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. | Meeting Room E141 Brenda Ekwurzel, UCS director of climate science Astrid Caldas, climate scientist, UCS Climate & Energy Program Which are the critical ecosystems most at risk of being completely transformed if the Paris Climate Agreement is not implemented? Which ecosystems are likely to be most resilient? Find out more from the session moderated by Astrid Caldas, with panelists Camille Parmesan (professor NMA chair in public understanding of marine science & human health, Plymouth University), Osvaldo Sala (director, Global Drylands Institute, Arizona State University), Ove Hoegh-Guldberg (professor and director, Global Change Institute, University of Queensland), and Brenda Ekwurzel. Audience contribution is a main goal to encourage experts to contribute peer-reviewed submissions in time for the second-order draft of the IPCC Special Report on 1.5˚C. Local Ecology-Policy Connections in the Pacific Northwest and Beyond (SS 18) Tuesday, August 8 | 8:00–10:00 p.m. | Meeting Room B114 Astrid Caldas, climate scientist, UCS Climate & Energy ProgramMid-Atlantic Chapter Mentoring and Recruiting Event for Students and Early Career Ecologists Wednesday, August 9 | 7:00–8:00 a.m. | Meeting Room A106 Astrid Caldas, climate scientist, UCS Climate & Energy Program Note: this session is limited to 50 attendees. Astrid Caldas, PhD 240-4605275 I blog at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/astrid-caldas/http://www.linkedin.com/in/acaldashttp://twitter.com/climategeek
