| Banquet
Speaker
Dr.
William J. Bond
Professor, Department of Botany
University of Cape Town, South Africa
"Fitting
fire into global ecology"
The
textbooks tell us that global biome distribution is largely determined
by climate with local modification by soils. However large areas
of the globe support far too few trees for their climate potential
to grow woody biomass. They include some of the most frequently
burnt areas on earth. I will discuss recent evidence for fire as
a primary determinant of these ‘open’ ecosystems, their
evolutionary origins and conflicting ideas on when, where and why
fire became important in terrestrial ecosystems.
Plenary
Sessions
Opening
- Midweek - Closing
Monday,
November 13, 2006
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Friday,
November 17, 2006
For
updated information please go the the "Program/Events"
section of the website
Download
Congress Flyer
Opening
Plenary Session, Monday, Nov. 13, 2006
Midweek Plenary Session, Wednesday, Nov. 15,
2006
Closing Plenary Session, Friday,
Nov. 17, 2006
Featured Speakers - Opening Plenary
Monday, November 13
Dr.
Richard Alley - Dr. Tim Barnett
Dr.
Richard Alley
Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences
Penn State University
"Back
to the Future of Climate Change: Where Surprises Meet Sure Things"
Richard Alley
is a Professor of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University in
State College, Pennsylvania. He earned Bachelor's (1980) and Master's
(1983) degrees in Geology from Ohio State University, and earned
his Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison (1987).
He studies ice cores -- samples of ice that record Earth's past
climate. His research focuses on abrupt climate change, glaciers,
ice sheet collapse, and sea level change.
Dr. Alley has
spent several years in Antarctica and Greenland, obtaining ice cores
from which he has been interpreting past climate change. The implications
of past climatic shifts and rapid climate change for wildland fire
management are significant. What would happen if the climate of
Boston became that of Atlanta, within a ten-year period? This would
certainly make our concepts of reference condition obsolete, as
well as our budgeting for fire planning based on recent expenditures.
Dr.
Tim Barnett
Research
Marine Physicist
Climate Research Division
Scripp’s Institute of Oceanography
San Diego State University
"Future
Climate of Planet Earth: A Sneak Preview"
Dr.
Tim Barnett investigates the physics of climate change and long-range
climate forecasting, focusing his research on greenhouse gases,
ocean current effects on climate, and climate forecast model development.
He is internationally recognized for developing methods for seasonal
climate prediction and detection of global warming signals. Past
work has included prediction of El Nino and La Nina events, their
effects on floods and droughts, and biological consequences, such
as effects on fisheries of warmer ocean temperatures. His recent
work compares increasing ocean temperatures with predictions from
global climate models, showing a compelling relationship with human
activity. Dr. Barnett will describe different scales of climatic
variability, how global warming might affect them, how soon significant
changes may occur, and what this might do to fire climate.
Top
Midweek
Plenary Session
Wednesday, November 15
8:00 am - 10:00 am
"Changing
Fire Regimes: Context and Consequences"
The Wednesday
morning plenary session features speakers who focus on the context
and consequences of changing fire regimes in four geographic regions
of the world.
"Climate,
Forest, and Fire Regime Changes in the Western U.S."
Western
U. S
Dr.
Tom Swetnam
Laboratory of Tree Ring Research
Tucson, Arizona, U. S.
"Fire
and Climate Change in Boreal Forests"
Boreal
regions
Dr.
Mike Flannigan
Canadian Forest Service
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
"Changing
Fire Regimes: Context and Consequences of Climate Change in Amazonia"
Amazon
Basin
Dr.
Mark Cochrane
South Dakota State University
Brookings, South Dakota, U. S.
"The
fire and climate change prognosis in southern Australia: is Gondwana
a goner?"
Australia
Dr.
Ross Bradstock
New South Wales Department of Environment and Conservation
Hurstville, NSW, Australia.
Top
Closing
Plenary Session
Friday, November 17
10:30 am - 12:30 pm
"How
will Global Climate Change Influence Fire and Land Management Programs
and Politics?"
Panelists:
John
Gledhill
Chief
Officer
Tasmania Fire Service
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Dr.
Józef Piwnicki
Researcher
Forest Fire Protection Laboratory
Forest Research Institute
Warsaw, Poland
Józef
Piwnicki - Climate change and wildland fire policy in Poland
Brian
Stocks
B.J. Stocks Wildfire Investigations Ltd.
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
Brian
Stocks
- Wildland Fire Management in Canada: New Challenges Under a Changing
Climate
James
Hubbard
Deputy Chief
USDA Forest Service
State and Private Forestry
Washington, DC, USA
_______________________________
"The
Big Burn, Then and Now"
Dr.
Stephen Pyne
Regent Professor
School of Life Science
Arizona State University
Tucson, Arizona, USA
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