British Ecological Society meeting in Hertfordshire
Thousands of ecologists from around the world will gather next month for Europe's largest ecological conference, the British Ecological Society’s (BES) Annual Meeting, being held at the University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, on 8-10 September 2009.
Hundreds of scientific papers and posters will be presented at the meeting, and highlights include:
• The BES Lecture, given by Paul Collier, Professor of Economics at Oxford University and Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies. His hugely successful and highly influential book The Bottom Billion – published in 2007 – shows what is happening to the world's poorest billion, why, and what can be done to expand their opportunities in a world of increasing wealth. Professor Collier will use this year's BES Lecture to develop the concept of plunder – the subject of his forthcoming book – and how we can manage natural assets without plundering the planet.
• Latest scientific evidence on the ecological impact of global climate change, including the effects of ocean acidification on cod reproduction and development, and a review of studies on the effect of restoring peat on greenhouse gas flux.
• How ecologists in Australia are helping city-dwelling humans be better neighbours to the white ibis, which is being driven into coastal towns and cities as its inland wetland habitat disappears due to drought, dam construction and agricultural water extraction. • Ground-breaking thermal images of one of our best-loved marine mammals, the harbour seal, which are shedding new light on how much energy these animals lose during moulting. The Tansley Lecture, by Professor Ian Baldwin of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, which he will use to showcase the new breed of “genome-enabled field biologists” Baldwin is training at his Department of Molecular Ecology – a new breed he hopes will bridge the divide that now exists in biology departments between ecology and molecular biology.
•An evening with Charles Darwin, starring Terry Molloy (aka Mike Tucker in The Archers) in a special performance of Menagerie Theatre Company's new drama Re:Design, based on the intimate exchange of letters between Charles Darwin and the devoutly Christian Harvard botanist Asa Gray.
For further information, please contact:
Hélène Murphy
Media & PR Officer
Email: h.1.murphy@herts.ac.uk