Spring 2012 Applied Biodiversity Science Seminar Series

Abstract: The diversity of life on earth is under serious threats from multiple human-related causes, and science plays well-known roles in addressing management aspects of this problem. My presentation will describe how natural history also plays a vital role in enhancing our appreciation for organisms and environments, thereby influencing the value judgments that ultimately underlie all conservation. I will first explain how an 18th century philosopher’s distinction between “beauty” and “sublime” can be used in the context of Darwin’s notion of “descent with modification,” then illustrate this approach with frogs, rattlesnakes, the African megafauna, Longhorn Cattle, and California Condors.

Biography: Harry W. Greene got a B.A. from Texas Wesleyan College in 1968 and served as an army medic for three years. He earned his M.A. from University of Texas at Arlington in 1973 and Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1977. He taught at the University of California, Berkeley for two decades, then moved to Cornell in 1999 as a professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. He has studied the behavioral ecology, evolution, and conservation of predators in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and most recently Brazil and the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Harry’s honors include the Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award, American Society of Naturalists’ Edward Osborne Wilson Award, fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, president of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, and most recently Cornell’s Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellowship. His Snakes: the Evolution of Mystery in Nature won a PEN Literary Award and made the New York Times’ list of “100 Most Notable Books.” At Cornell he’s taught introductory biology, herpetology, desert ecology, and graduate field ecology, and his next book, Tracks and Shadows: Field Biology as Art, is nearing completion.

Abstract: More than five years ago a group of us published papers in Nature and American Naturalist proposed partially restoring the lost North American Pleistocene megafauna with conspecifics and closely related proxies for tortoises, cheetah, elephants, and other species. In this seminar I will summarize our initiative and the subsequent response from conservation biologists and the public, with emphasis on implications for conserving biodiversity on a rapidly changing earth.

Biography: Harry W. Greene got a B.A. from Texas Wesleyan College in 1968 and served as an army medic for three years. He earned his M.A. from University of Texas at Arlington in 1973 and Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1977. He taught at the University of California, Berkeley for two decades, then moved to Cornell in 1999 as a professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. He has studied the behavioral ecology, evolution, and conservation of predators in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and most recently Brazil and the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Harry’s honors include the Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award, American Society of Naturalists’ Edward Osborne Wilson Award, fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, president of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, and most recently Cornell’s Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellowship. His Snakes: the Evolution of Mystery in Nature won a PEN Literary Award and made the New York Times’ list of “100 Most Notable Books.” At Cornell he’s taught introductory biology, herpetology, desert ecology, and graduate field ecology, and his next book, Tracks and Shadows: Field Biology as Art, is nearing completion.

Abstract: The population of Texas is expected to increase from 25 million to 46 million inhabitants by the year 2060, and this will be accompanied by a nearly 30% increase in municipal, industrial, and agricultural demand for freshwater. The amount of water in the biosphere is finite, and most of the freshwater we use comes from surface water. Surface water supports terrestrial, fluvial and estuarine ecosystems, including their ecological processes, flora and fauna. The problem is apparent and profound – Texans face a growing challenge to satisfy competing needs for freshwater. In the interest of improved water planning that balances all interests, the Texas legislature, state agencies, grassroots citizen groups, and non-governmental conservation organizations have undertaken a series of efforts to determine how much water a river or bay needs. Winemiller will summarize scientific, practical, and political aspects of our challenge to maintain essential flows for ecosystems while protecting human welfare, economic development and population growth. Complex scientific, technical, and sociopolitical aspects of the problem will be explored by describing some recent efforts.

Biography: Dr. Winemiller and his Aquatic Ecology Lab investigate fish ecology and evolution, community ecology, and ecosystem ecology in aquatic habitats. His research is strongly field oriented, with studies conducted at sites throughout Texas, Latin America, Africa, and, more recently, Southeast Asia. The research is aimed at the advancement of both basic scientific understanding as well as options for better conservation of biodiversity and the ecosystems that support it.

Abstract: In philosophical ethics, to describe an individual as a “person” is to claim that they deserve a special kind of respect in virtue of having certain cognitive capacities. In this sense, are any non-human animals good candidates for personhood? That depends, of course, on which cognitive capacities are in question. In this presentation, Dr. Varner will argue that while we have no good evidence that any non-human animals are persons in the sense of taking a biographical perspective on their lives (something that all normal adult humans do), some animals may be what he calls “near-persons” in virtue of having some kind of robust, conscious sense of their own pasts and futures. Elephants may qualify as near-persons in this sense, and Dr. Varner will briefly consider what the implications of this would be. If elephants are near-persons, then what kind of special respect would that call for in the management of wild and captive populations?

Biography: Dr. Varner wrote one of the first dissertations on environmental ethics and has since published two books and over thirty papers on hunting, animal agriculture and human nutrition, medical research, cloning, and pet ownership, as well as philosophical issues associated with professional ethics, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the property takings debate. His current research focuses on applying the two-level (“Kantian”) utilitarianism of R.M. Hare to questions about the moral and legal status of animals.

Abstract: Forthcoming

Biography: Dr. Lawson is an interdisciplinary social scientist who integrates life-long experience as a naturalist and a biologist with current research on the social dimensions of biodiversity conservation. In addition to UW, he has taught at the University of Toronto, the University of California at Santa Barbara, UC-Davis, Oregon State University, and Linköping University (Sweden), and currently advises several graduate students. He has been invited to present his research more than 50 times at conferences and workshops in a dozen countries and has more than 75 publications, including nearly 30 articles in refereed journals across the spectrum of the natural and social sciences (including high-impact international journals such as BioScience and Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment). He wrote Metaphors for Environmental Sustainability: Redefining Our Relationship with Nature, which was published by Yale University Press this spring and which was awarded the 2011 Oravec Research Award in Environmental Communication by the National Communication Association. Among other projects, his current research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and an Early Researcher Award focuses on stakeholder perceptions of assisted colonization and invasive species. He has served on the Board of Directors of World Wildlife Fund – Canada, currently sit son the board of directors of the Invasive Species Centre and the editorial board of the journal Diversity and Distributions, and is the President of Ontario’s largest non-profit environmental organization, Ontario Nature.

Biography: F. Stuart Chapin, III (Terry) is an ecosystem ecologist whose research addresses the sustainability of ecosystems and human communities in a rapidly changing planet. This work emphasizes the impacts of climate change on Alaskan ecology, subsistence resources, and indigenous communities, as a basis for developing climate-change adaptation plans.

Abstract: Historically, the charter of Texas river management authorities has centered on the production of electricity, water supply, and flood control. For agencies managing rivers and reservoirs that lie close to some of the state’s large urban centers, however, a third issue is becoming increasingly salient and is presenting these agencies with new management challenges; i.e., the provision of water-based recreational opportunities. While river management authorities vary considerably in their capacity to accommodate this new imperative, there is growing evidence suggesting that this function is becoming an increasingly important component of their lake management operations. Proximate population growth coupled with an ongoing drought across the state has increased the value Texans ascribe to water-based recreation opportunities. In this investigation, I use the context of Lake Travis to document an approach for assessing social carrying capacity on inland waterways; a key component for assessing the quality of the recreational experience. Drawing on theory related to crowding and human territoriality, I present and test path models highlighting the influence of several factors that shape recreational users’ experience. The findings are discussed within the context of issues related to the shifting focus of Texas water management policy, population change, and watershed conservation.

Biography: Gerard Kyle is an Associate Professor within the Department of Recreation, Park & Tourism Sciences at Texas A&M University. His research is informed by theory rooted in environmental psychology and explores human’ interactions and response to nature and wildland areas. Applications have examined an array of human dimensions-related issues within the U.S. and Australia related to wildfire management, coastal and inland fisheries management, climate change, invasive species, and other threats to parks and protected areas.