Biology symposium focuses on global climate change

Former United Nations ambassador for the environment Karen Kraft Sloan (MES ’90) will make the opening remarks at the Global Climate Change Symposium 2007 tomorrow at York.

This is the 34th annual symposium organized by the Association of Graduate Students in the Biological Sciences at York. Organizers of the one-day event aim to provide up-to-date information on environmental research, discuss an interdisciplinary approach to understanding this rapidly developing field, and underline the urgency of dealing with climate change.

Topics and speakers include:

  • "The impacts of climate change on human health" – Jacinthe Seguin, Health Canada;
  • "How invertebrates may be used as indicators of environmental change" – Ian Walker, University of British Columbia Okanagan;
  • "How globalization is changing the world through increased biological invasions" – Anthony Ricciardi, McGill University;
  • "The resulting changes and impacts on indigenous culture in the north" – Jessica Simpson, Arctic Indigenous Alliance;
  • "How our forests will be able to respond to an atmosphere enriched with carbon dioxide" – Ram Oren, Duke University;
  • "What a time of significant global change will mean to the biodiversity of species in Canada" – Jeremy Kerr, University of Ottawa.

The symposium takes place in the Robert R. McEwen Auditorium, W141 Seymour Schulich Building, from 8:30am to 5:30pm on Saturday, March 24.

For more information, contact Jennifer Petruniak at 416-569-9906 or jpetruni@yorku.ca.