The Biological & Biomedical Sciences Research Seminar Series presents Dr. Jodi Brandt, Conservation Biology Candidate, on The Implementation of Ecotourism as a Sustainable Land-Use System: Empirical Insights from a Biodiversity Hotspot” on Jan. 27 at 4 p.m. in Irvine 159.
Coffee and snacks will be provided.
Dr. Jodi Brandt
Brandt is a postdoctoral research fellow at Dartmouth College. She is a conservation biologist who integrates data and techniques from natural and social sciences to characterize environmental change processes and the implications for biodiversity. She has worked in a wide range of social-ecological contexts, including coastal zones of the Great Lakes, tropical forests in the Congo, arid rangelands in the Bolivian Andes, and alpine and forest ecosystems in the Himalayans. She employs a variety of methodological tools, including remote sensing, experimental field plots, observational studies, spatial analysis, and econometric modeling. Her approach is very collaborative and interdisciplinary, and she works with a wide range of people, including ecologists, economists, earth scientists, ethno-botanists, political scientists, environmental managers, and indigenous knowledge-holders.
Abstract: A major challenge is to better understand how human societies and healthy ecosystems can thrive, on an ever more globalized and crowded planet. Ecotourism is an increasingly popular sustainable development strategy because of its potential to stimulate economic growth while conserving biodiversity. I present a series of studies that measure social and environmental outcomes of ecotourism in Tibetan areas of southwest China. I highlight interactions and feedbacks occurring between the human and natural systems at multiple spatial scales, and I discuss the conservation implications for Himalayan old-growth forests, a geographically-limited and severely threatened biome.
Upcoming Spring 2015 Events
Jan. 29, Dr. Viorel Popescu, Conservation Biology Candidate, on “Wildlife Conservation in a Changing World: From Autecology to Large-Scale Conservation Planning” at 3 p.m. in Irvine 159.
Feb. 2, Dr. Adam Ford, Conservation Biology Candidate, on “Conserving Trophic Dynamics and Animal Movement in Human-Dominated Landscapes: Case Studies from Large Carnivores” at 4 p.m. in Irvine 159.
Feb. 9, Maria Elena de Bellard, Cal State University Northridge, “The Role of Slit Tumor Suppressor Gene in Neural Crest Delamination” at 4 p.m. in Irvine 159.
April 20, Dr. Yoon-Seong Kim, University of Central Florida, on “Alpha-Synuclein in Neurodegeneration” at 4 p.m. in Irvine 159.
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