Tag Archives: Ecosystems

We spent the hour looking at the science of tippings and what they mean for our climate and our ecosystems on land and in water today. What causes these types of sudden changes? And how can society be better prepared for such events? We spoke with three scientists whose studies involve tipping points, how they happen and their effects.[ dur: 58mins. ]

Peter Ward is a Professor of Paleontology and Biology at the Earth and Space Sciences Department of the University of Washington, Seattle.He is the co-author of the best-selling Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe, the author of many books including, Out of Thin Air: Dinosaurs, Birds, and Earth’s Ancient Atmosphere, Under a Green Sky: Global Warming, the Mass Extinctions of the Past, and What They Can Tell Us About Our Future, and The Medea Hypothesis: Is Life on Earth Ultimately Self-Destructive? which was listed by the New York Times as one of the “100 most important ideas of 2009.”
Simon Thrush is Professor of Marine Science and Head of the Institute of Marine Science at the University of Auckalnd in New Zealand, He is the co-author of many publications including, Real world biodiversity-ecosystem functioning: A seafloor perspective, The up-scaling of ecosystem functions in a heterogeneous world, and Altered Sea Ice Thickness and Permanence Affects Benthic Ecosystem Functioning in Coastal Antarctica.
George Perry is a Professor at the School of Environment at the University of Auckland. He studies the effects of humans on forest ecosystems. He is the co-author of many publications including, Positive Feedbacks to Fire-Driven Deforestation Following Human Colonization of the South Island of New Zealand, Feedbacks and landscape-level vegetation dynamics, and Pyrodiversity is the coupling of biodiversity and fire regimes in food webs.

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Oceans, life on the line – June 25, 2017

June 24, 2017 host 2 Comments

Ocean life is under threat by multiple stressors: climate change, acidification, plastics, pollution, overfishing, overexploitation. We spend the hour with four experts of the seas. We discuss the realities facing our oceans and strides we’re making to protect, recover, and restore our oceans.

Simon Thrush is Head of the Institute of Marine Science at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His publications include the research papers Real world biodiversity-ecosystem functioning: A seafloor perspective, The up-scaling of ecosystem functions in a heterogeneous world, Altered sea ice thickness and permanence affects benthic ecosystem functioning in Coastal Antarctica.
Rochelle Constantine is senior lecturer and marine biologist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Her publications include the research papers Genotype-based estimates of local abundance and effective population size for Hector’s dolphins, Population structure of humpback whales in the western and central South Pacific Ocean as determined by vocal exchange among populations, and Environmental correlates of nearshore habitat distribution by the Critically Endangered Maūi dolphin.
Mohd Nordin Hassan is the founding director and Professor Emeritus at the Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI) of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. His publications include the book chapter International Experience in Ecosystem Services and Management in China, and the research paper Towards sustainable development? The evolution of environmental policy is Malaysia.
Daniel C. Hikuroa is senior lecturer at the Faculty of Arts in the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His publications include the research papers Maniapoto Upper Waipa River Fisheries Plan and Sea Change – Tai Timu Tai Pari.

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This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Slippery Underworld of Organ Trafficking -/- De-Extinction a new tool – April 9, 2017

April 8, 2017 host

First, the underworld of organ trafficking. [ dur: 10 mins. ]

Nancy Scheper-Hughes, is Professor of anthropology at University of California, Berkeley, editor of Commodifying Bodies and co-author of Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology.
Art Caplan, is Professor and head of the division of Bioethics at New York University Langone Medical Center and award-winning author of books including Applied Ethics in Mental Health Care: An Interdisciplinary Reader, Ethics and Organ Transplants, and Smart Mice, Not so Smart People.

Then, in the face of mass extinction scientists are exploring bringing back species from the dead. Our panel of scientists discuss de-extinction. What criteria should be used to determine which species to bring back? What are some of the ethical considerations? [ dur: 48 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

Michael Archer is Professor in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of New South Wales. He is the author of Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution and From Plesiosaurs to People : 100 Million Years of Australian Environmental History. He’s part of the team that’s working on the de-extinction efforts to bring back Thylacine and Southern Grastric-brooding Frog.
Douglas McCauley is Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology at the University of California Santa Barbara. He has co-authored numerous research papers including, Megafaunal impacts on structure and function of ocean ecosystems, Marine defaunation: animal loss in the global oceans, Resetting predator baselines in coral reef ecosystems.
Susan Haig is Senior Scientist at U. S. Geologic Survery (USGS) Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center and Courtesy Professor of Wildlife Ecology at Oregon State University. She is the co-author of many research papers including, Ancient DNA reveals substantial genetic diversity in the California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) prior to a population bottleneck, and The Conservation Genetics Juggling Act- Integrating Genetics and Ecology, Science and Policy

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This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Insight into race, propaganda and ideology -/- extinction of species – March 12, 2017

March 11, 2017 host 1 Comment

First, an analysis of ideology, propaganda and race.

David Livingstone Smith is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of New England. He is the author of Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others, The Most Dangerous Animal: Human Nature and the Origins of War, How Biology Shapes Philosophy and Why We Lie: Evolutionary Roots of Deception and the Unconscious Mind.

Then, what are the causes of the rapid rate of species extinction and what can be done.

Anthony Barnosky is Executive Director of Stanford University’s Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, and an Emeritus Professor of Integrative Biology at University of California Berkeley. He is the author of Dodging Extinction—Power, Food, Money and the Future of Life on Earth and co-author of Tipping Point for Planet Earth—How Close Are We To The Edge (with Elizabeth Hadly).
Stuart Pimm is Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology at Duke University. He is the author of A Scientist Audits the Earth, The Balance of Nature? Ecological Issues in the Conservation of Species and Communities, and Patterns in Nature: The Analysis of Species Co-Occurences.
David Wilkie is Director of Conservation Measures for the Wildlife Conservation Society. He is the author of Hunting for consensus: reconciling bushmeat harvest, conservation, and development policy in West and Central Africa, Valuation of consumption and sale of forest goods from a Central American rain forest, and Impacts of protected areas on local livelihoods in Cambodia.

Find book authored by our guest scholars on this Book Shelf .

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Ecosystem Tipping Point, how it happens, effects and our response – January 8, 2017

January 8, 2017 host

Peter Ward is a Professor of Paleontology and Biology at the Earth and Space Sciences Department of the University of Washington, Seattle.He is the co-author of the best-selling Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe, the author of many books including, Out of Thin Air: Dinosaurs, Birds, and Earth’s Ancient Atmosphere, Under a Green Sky: Global Warming, the Mass Extinctions of the Past, and What They Can Tell Us About Our Future, and The Medea Hypothesis: Is Life on Earth Ultimately Self-Destructive? which was listed by the New York Times as one of the “100 most important ideas of 2009.”
Simon Thrush is Professor of Marine Science and Head of the Institute of Marine Science at the University of Auckalnd in New Zealand, He is the co-author of many publications including, Real world biodiversity-ecosystem functioning: A seafloor perspective, The up-scaling of ecosystem functions in a heterogeneous world, and Altered Sea Ice Thickness and Permanence Affects Benthic Ecosystem Functioning in Coastal Antarctica.
George Perry is a Professor at the School of Environment at the University of Auckland. He studies the effects of humans on forest ecosystems. He is the co-author of many publications including, Positive Feedbacks to Fire-Driven Deforestation Following Human Colonization of the South Island of New Zealand, Feedbacks and landscape-level vegetation dynamics, and Pyrodiversity is the coupling of biodiversity and fire regimes in food webs.

Find books authored by our guest scholars on this Book Shelf .

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Intergenerational economic equality -/- Crop cultivation collapses without bees – October 9, 2016

October 8, 2016 host

First, trend for economic equality in US has been changing with less opportunity for people to transcend inter-generational economic status than they have in other countries, like Norway, Finland, Denmark and Canada. Why the changes? [ dur: 13 mins. ]

Miles Corak is a professor of economics with the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottowa. He is the author of, “Generational Income Mobility in North America and Europe” and “Income Mobility Across the Generations”

Then, climate change, pesticides and mites are killing off the planet’s bees. What will happen to the planet’s foods? And can the bee colony collapse be stopped? [ dur: 45 mins. ]

Jeremy Kerr is a Professor of Biology at the University of Ottowa, specializing in conservation biology and biodiversity – Macroecology , Conservation research site. His latest publication links the decline of bumble bees to climate change.
Peter Dearden is a Professor of Genetics and a researcher in the laboratory for evolution and development at Otago University where he specializes in evolution, development and epigenetics (link).
Paulo de Souza is a Professor and team leader at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia, and the Global Initiative for Honey Bee Health (link). He’s also a collaborating scientist on NASA’s Mars exploration Rover Mission.

Find books authored by our guest scholars on this Book Shelf .

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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The Scholars' Circle Interviews

Tag Archives: Ecosystems

Scholars’ Circle – Tipping points of Eco-Systems and Climate – October 1, 2017

Scholars’ Circle – Oceans, life on the line – June 25, 2017

Scholars’ Circle – Slippery Underworld of Organ Trafficking -/- De-Extinction a new tool – April 9, 2017

Scholars’ Circle – Insight into race, propaganda and ideology -/- extinction of species – March 12, 2017

Scholars’ Circle – Ecosystem Tipping Point, how it happens, effects and our response – January 8, 2017

Scholars’ Circle – Intergenerational economic equality -/- Crop cultivation collapses without bees – October 9, 2016

By Maria Armoudian