Date

Wednesday, February 27, 2008;

Speakers

Location

Parking:
On site and free.

Time

Cost

Title

Timing is Everything: Launching a National (and local!) Phenology Network to detect the link between climate change and seasonal events

Topics

Phenology is the study of the timing of seasonal events and the environmental factors that trigger them. Such events include: migration, the emergence from hibernation or dormancy in the spring, pollinator activity, and leafing out and flowering. Phenological studies also target the appearance of less welcome springtime visitors, including allergens such as pollen as well as agricultural insect pests and weeds. In this program, UCSB Professor Susan Mazer and PhD student Brian Haggerty will describe the ways in which biologists are now detecting and measuring the effects of climate change on the phenological patterns of plants and animals, including ways in which the relationships among them (e.g., pollination and seed dispersal) may be disrupted when interacting species respond differently to climate change in their native habitats. Mazer will also demonstrate the use of "Project Budburst", a new national, on-line program, designed for the public, with which anyone can upload phenological observations of any plant species and download the records of other observers in the U.S.

We're looking for additional partners in the Santa Barbara area, so your interest and participation will be warmly welcomed.

About the Speakers

Dr. Susan Mazer earned her PhD in Botany at UC Davis in 1986. Following a post-doctoral fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, she joined the UCSB faculty in 1988. She is currently Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology in UCSB's Department of Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology, where she teaches Plant Biodiversity, Ecology & Evolution, and where her research focuses on the ecology and evolution of plant life history, seed size, mating systems, and pollination in wild species of both temperate zone and tropical rainforest habitats.

Brian Haggerty is a 2nd-year PhD student in evolutionary ecology in the Mazer Lab at UCSB. The theme of his research is the detection, measurement, and interpretation of life history and phenology, with applications to climate change. During the past year, he has designed and led the Phenology Stewardship program at UCSB, training undergraduates to monitor the phenology of dozens of species of wild plants and birds at the University of California's Coal Oil Point Reserve.