Final Antarctic Lecture of the Semester Examines Climate Variability Nov. 5

The final talk in this semester’s Antarctic Lecture Series will take place on Nov. 5, 7-8 p.m., at the Fort Collins Main Library, 201 Peterson St. The lecture is free and open to the public and sponsored by the School of Global Environmental Sustainability at Colorado State University.

The speaker will be Michael Gooseff, associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University. His topic will be "An End to the Trend – Antarctic Ecosystem Response to Climate Variability in the McMurdo Dry Valleys."

Despite cold temperatures and very little precipitation, the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs) of Antarctica support vibrant ecosystems. Until 2000 these ecosystems were thought to be changing in response to a decade-long cooling trend. However, an exceptionally high melt year in 2002 influenced stream flow and lake dynamics, and since then, MDV ecosystems have begun reacting to altered environmental conditions with new trajectories and increased variability. This lecture will focus on contrasting drivers of ecological responses pre- and post-2002.

For more information about the Antarctic lecture series, go to the SoGES website at sustainability.colostate.edu.

About the School of Global Environmental Sustainability?
The School of Global Environmental Sustainability is at the core of a growing number of exciting sustainability initiatives in research and education at Colorado State University. SoGES serves as a hub to connect CSU’s community of scholars and practitioners interested in applying interdisciplinary perspectives to large-scale environmental, economic, and social questions not easily addressed through traditional approaches. The School was uniquely designed to reach across disciplines and colleges to forge new alliances and advance greater understanding of the challenges to achieving sustainability faced by our nation and global community. SoGES is meeting this challenge and continues to strengthen CSU’s reputation of being at the forefront of addressing the world’s sustainability issues through research, education, and outreach.