Colorado State University’s School of Global Environmental Sustainability (SoGES) to host IGNITE event

The School of Global Environmental Sustainability (SoGES) at Colorado State University will host an IGNITE symposium to highlight biodiversity research on Tuesday, April 9, in Johnson Hall room 222 starting at 5 p.m.

CSU’s researchers study the many facets of biodiversity from genes to elephants, in places from Fort Collins to Mongolia. SoGES will feature CSU faculty and students at IGNITE Biodiversity – a fast-paced, entertaining event that will inspire students, staff and faculty to protect, value and manage biodiversity and the services it provides.

In the IGNITE format, each speaker presents 20 slides in 5 minutes. As an entertaining bonus, the slides progress automatically every 15 seconds (whether or not the speaker is ready). Talks will cover a range of topics relating to biodiversity including: climate change, land-use, invasive species, human and wildlife health, policy, education and outreach.

This event will open with an introduction by Barry Noon of CSU’s Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation and be moderated by Diana Wall, Director of SOGES.

There will be 15 speakers in all. Below is an example of who will be speaking:

  • Chris Funk, Department of Biology
  • Rick Knight, Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources
  • Matt Wallenstein, Natural Resource Ecology Lab
  • Ruth Hufbauer, Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management
  • Cini Brown, Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management
  • Kristy Pabilonia and Colleen Duncan, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
  • Robert Reed, United States Geological Survey
  • Liba Pejchar, Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology

This past year SOGES launched a campus-wide Biodiversity Initiative to increase awareness of biodiversity research at Colorado State University and to catalyze cross-campus interdisciplinary biodiversity research. The SoGES Biodiversity Initiative (SBI) works to engage and network faculty involved in biodiversity research at CSU; encourage knowledge transfer across campus and potential collaborations; and promote CSU as a center for biodiversity research through research, publications and public awareness.

Biodiversity is the variation of all life on earth, from genes and species to communities and ecosystems. Biodiversity can be studied from the local to global scale and across the many levels of organization (genes to ecosystems). In all systems, aquatic to terrestrial and managed to natural, biodiversity maintains life on our planet and underpins the ecosystem services vital to human well-being, including food, carbon storage, climate regulation and aesthetics and cultural support. However, human activities threaten this biodiversity and species extinction continues to increase.
For more information about IGNITE Biodiversity, contact Kelly Ramirez (Kelly.Ramirez@colostate.edu) 970-491-7647.
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