7 BILLION
DEEP TIME, GLOBAL
CHANGE AND
AND YOU
THE PAST AS A GUIDE TO THE FUTURE
A David and Cecilia Ting Endowment Fund Lecture Series
January 30, - March 13, 2014
A Long View of Fire, Climate, and People:
Perspectives From the Paleoecological Record
Presented by Dr. Cathy Whitlock, Professor of Earth Sciences and Director of
the Montana Institute on Ecosystems, Montana State University
Thursday, February 13, 2014, 7:00 pm,
Room 1900, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings
Abstract:
In the last 20 years, many parts of western North America have experienced more wildland fires than have been seen in recent history, and
biomass burning around the world is increasing at an alarming rate with consequences for climate change, biodiversity, and human health.
The size and severity of recent fires have raised important questions: Are current levels of biomass burning truly unprecedented? What is
the role of climate change in altering natural fire systems? Do our forest ecosystems have the capacity to survive increased fire activity? Our
understanding of wildland fires benefits greatly from deep-time perspectives. Historical information from satellite and written accounts and
longer records from tree rings, lake sediments, and ice and ocean cores describe fire activity over multiple temporal and spatial scales and
disclose the changing role of climate, vegetation and humans in shaping fire regimes. The paleofire record provides examples of places where
humans permanently transformed natural vegetation through their use of fire, as well as times when climate altered fire regimes and forest
composition. Such examples are important to consider when assessing the recovery of forests following recent fires, the natural resilience of
our forest ecosystems to future climate change, and the role of current human activity and land management in modifying fire regimes.
Bio:
Cathy Whitlock is a Professor of Earth Sciences at Montana State University and Director of the Montana Institute on
Ecosystem. She is recognized nationally and internationally for her scholarly contributions and leadership activities
in the field of past climatic and environmental change, and she has published over 140 peer-reviewed journal
articles and book chapters on these topics. She received her PhD from the University of Washington in 1983 and
served as Curator of Paleobotany at Carnegie Museum of Natural History (1985-1990) and Professor of Geography
at the University of Oregon from 1990-2003. In the last ten years, Whitlock has directed the Paleoecology Lab
at Montana State University, which has become a nationally and internationally recognized center in fire-history
research. Her studies of past vegetation, climate, and fire have been supported by grants from the US National Science Foundation, Joint Fire Sciences
Program, National Park Service, US Geological Survey, and Department of Energy, and she is currently leading WildFIRE PIRE, a multi-institutional NSFfunded project to investigate the effects of climate change on fire regimes around the world. Whitlock is a Fellow of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, past President of the American Quaternary Association (AMQUA)--the national scientific organization that focuses on past
environmental change--and past Chair of the US National Committee for the International Quaternary Association at the National Academy of Sciences.
Deep Time, Global Change and You is a series of free public lectures and discussions by leading thinkers on how paleoecology can shed light on the
consequences of ecosystem disruptions. It is not news that our global environment is currently in a period of rapid and dramatic change, with uncertain
long-term consequences. Scientists working in the area of “paleoecology”, the study of past environments and communities of plants and animals, can
contribute insights into the long prehistory of natural changes on earth, and shed light on likely future consequences of ecosystem disruptions. Over the long
history of our planet, many changes, ranging from continental drift and sudden climate shifts, to wildfires and the recent rise of civilizations have altered our
ecosystems, and will continue to do so. How such disturbances have shaped our present environment, and how they might change it in the future is the focus
of this series.
Upcoming Lectures and Discussions:
February 20, 2014, The Human Footprint In The Pacific Northwest: From The Deep Past To The Present
Dr. Rolf Mathewes, Professor of Paleoecology, Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
February 27, 2014, Magnitude 9 - How We Learned That The Largest Earthquakes on Earth Happen on Our Coast
Dr. John Clague, Canada Research Chair in Natural Hazard Research, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
March 6, 2014, What if Extinction is Not Forever? A Molecular Paleontologist’s View of De-extinction
Dr. Beth Shapiro, Associate Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, USA
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March 13, 2014, Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century
Dr. Anthony Barnosky, Professor, Integrative Biology and Curator, Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Reservations:
As seating is limited, reservations are recommended: www.sfu.ca/reserve
Contact:
For more information, contact lauriew@sfu.ca
Sponsors:
Faculty of Environment, SFU
Faculty of Science, SFU
David and Cecilia Ting Endowment, Lifelong Learning, SFU