The Future of Biodiversity in the Pacific Region: Conserving a Threatened Island World [webinar]

“Islands” are often compared to the concept of canaries in the coal mine when it comes to climate change. It is on islands that we often see the initial signs of climate change and where it can have rapid impact on biodiversity and signal changes that will soon be coming to other parts of the world.

Join the OIST Foundation as we  explore this topic with panelists  Dr. Evan Economo (Professor, Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit – Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan) along with Dr. Rosemary Gillespie (Professor and Schlinger Chair of Systematics, Essig Museum of Entomology, UC Berkeley) and Dr. George Roderick (William Muriece Hoskins Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management – UC Berkeley), who have both been engaged in working on such issues on Pacific Islands for the past 30 years. The webinar will examine the ways in which climate transformations and invasive species have impacted biological life in places such as Hawaii, Guam, the Bonin Islands, and Okinawa, what the potential for environmental restoration is, and what implications this has for both the U.S. and Japan. The webinar will also discuss the important ways in which islands have provided some of the deepest insights for the field of biology.

Join us after the webinar for a special 45 minute VIP reception with the panelists to discuss topics explored during the event (separate registration required).

This is the first in a new three-part webinar series by the OIST Foundation focused on one of the most important global issues of deep concern to the United States and Japan: climate change, environmental conservation, and its impact.

This new series is funded by the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership.