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Dear Club Geographers: Please see the exciting lineup planned for this year's Darwin Day (both listed and below and on attachment). Thanks, Derek ________________________________ From: Jess Welch [[log in to unmask]] Sent: Monday, January 28, 2013 11:41 AM Subject: Darwin Day 2013! PLEASE DISTRIBUTE TO DEPARTMENT Greetings! I'd like to invite you to Darwin Day 2013! The theme of this year's Darwin Day is "Climate Change & Evolution" and we are pleased to have Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Camille Parmesan provide the 2013 keynote address. A Brownbag lecture will be provided by Dr. Ezra Markowitz on communicating climate change, and a bassoon sextet will perform MUSIC FOR EARTHWORMS, a piece inspired by Darwin's final book. Attached is the full schedule for Darwin Day events and below is additional information about this years' guests. For additional information about these events and more, please visit darwin.utk.edu<http://darwin.utk.edu> or email [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>. Darwin Day is an internationally-recognized event held annually on or around Charles Darwin's birthday, February 12, and primarily seeks to: (1) Provide educational outreach on the importance of evolution as the foundation of modern biology, (2) Celebrate the life and findings of Charles Darwin, (3) Promote scientific literacy. The University of Tennessee Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology hosts one of the longest-running Darwin Days. Since its conception in 1997, students and faculty from a variety of departments have worked together to provide UTK and East Tennessee internationally-acclaimed speakers, pertinent panel discussions, radio interviews, contests, merchandise, informational materials, and accredited teacher’s workshops. ----------------------------------------- Camille Parmesan: Biography - Dr. Camille Parmesan's research focuses on the current impacts of climate change on wildlife, from field-based work on American and European butterflies to synthetic analyses of global impacts on a broad range of species across terrestrial and marine biomes. This work has had high impact, leading to Parmesan being ranked the second most highly cited author in the field of Climate Change in 2010 by Reuters Web of Science. Her analyses documenting the global extent and pervasiveness of the effects of anthropogenic climate change ob biodiversity have helped support arguments in policy sectors for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. She works actively with governmental agencies and NGOs to help develop conservation assessment and planning tools aimed at preserving biodiversity in the face of climate change. She was awarded the Conservation Achievement Award in Science by the National Wildlife Federation, named "Outstanding Woman Working on Climate Change," by IUCN, and named as a “Who’s Who of Women and the Environment” by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). Parmesan has worked with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for more than 15 years, and shares in the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to IPCC in 2007. Dr. Parmesan is a Professor in Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin (USA) and holds the National Aquarium Chair in the Public Understanding of Oceans and Human Health in the Marine Institute, Plymouth University (UK). Abstract - "Conservation in a Time of Rapid Climate Change: Promises and Limitations of Evolution" It is now clear that wild species are being affected by anthropogenic climate change around the world, on the land and in the oceans. Every living creature has a distinctive climate space within which it lives. Anthropogenic global warming is causing climate to shift around in both time and space. As climate spaces shift, wild plants and animals are shifting where and when they live. While some species show little adaptation to the changing climate, a few have undergone rapid, population-level evolution. Through Earth's history, major shifts in climate regime have driven high rates of plant and animal extinctions. If societies continue with 'business as usual' and the worst-case global warming scenarios unfold, evolution is unlikely to save entire species from going extinct. This is particularly true for species that cannot migrate to new regions to track a shifting climate space because movement is blocked by urban sprawl and agricultural expansion. Preservation of biodiversity in the face of climate change will require novel forms of management and unconventional measures of ‘success.’ One proactive solution is to assist the evolution of trapped populations by bringing in novel genes. Creative conservation solutions are not without risk, but successful conservation in a time of rapid environmental change will be that which recognizes that doing nothing carries risk as well. ----------------------------------------- Ezra Markowitz: Biography - Ezra Markowitz is currently a post-doctoral research associate at Princeton University as a member of the "Communicating Uncertainty" research community. He holds a PhD in Environmental Sciences, Studies and Policy from the University of Oregon. His research centers around the intersection of social and moral psychology, environmental conservation, communications and policy. Current projects include an examination of the “compassion fade” phenomenon in the environmental domain, an exploration of the role that uncertainty plays in shaping environmental engagement, and research on the dynamics and mechanisms of intergenerational environmental stewardship and reciprocity. Markowitz is a staff member at PolicyInteractive and a former National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. Abstract - "Communicating climate change to an uncertain public: Where do we go from here?" Where do people's beliefs about climate change come from? Are guilt-inducing public service announcements about climate change effective? Should communicators try to scare people or make them feel hopeful about our collective ability to confront the issue? Over the past few years, an explosion of research at the intersection of psychology and communications has attempted to answer these and related questions. This rapidly growing body of research has generated critical insights into both the drivers of public opinion regarding climate change as well as factors that influence the effectiveness of climate communication strategies. In this talk, I will highlight key findings from the "climate psychology" field and discuss implications for communicating with the public about climate change. ----------------------------------------- MUSIC FOR EARTHWORMS: A Darwinian Odyssey for basson consort, by Dan Welcher * Eric Anderson, Principal bassoon, Chattanooga Symphony, Adjunct bassoon professor at UT-Chattanooga and Lee University * Darrel Hale, Acting Principal Bassoon, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra * Dawn Hartley, 2nd bassoon, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Adjunct bassoon professor at * Belmont and Lipscomb Universities. * James Lotz, Bassoon Professor, Tennessee Tech University * Keith McClelland, Bassoon Professor, UT-Knoxville * Lecolion Washington, Bassoon Professor, U. of Memphis MUSIC FOR EARTHWORMS, despite it whimsical title, is an attempt to reconcile Mr. Darwin with those who persist in maligning his work. In my short work, I attempt to back up Darwin’s claim that belief in god is not contrary to accepting evolution. I also give a thumbnail sketch of Darwin’s voyage, his discovery of The Idea, and the conflict that results when fear and ignorance are confronted by science. The piece begins in turmoil, alternating high energy with a dark brooding sense of doom (a portrait in miniature, perhaps, of the intellectual world of England in the 1830’s). At length, the brooding gives over to a sea-picture: young Charles, aged 22 years, boards the HMS Beagle for what would be a five year voyage of discovery that would change the world. The familiar “Mariner’s Hymn” (“Eternal Father, Strong to Save”) accompanies and comforts him on this journey, which was long and difficult. When at length the party lands at the hitherto-uncharted Galapagos Islands, the hymn reaches its apex. On the island, New and Strange Creatures are found, from the immense and ancient tortoises to a seemingly infinite variety of finches and beetles. Darwin steps gingerly ashore, and in this next passage the various creatures appear: related to each other, but individual in several respects. Darwin is intrigued, and The Idea appears to him (musically, this is the name “Charles Darwin” in notation). At first, The Idea is presented as apart from the rest of the world – indeed, the first bassoon plays this theme alone in ¾, while the rest of the bassoons murmur in free meter. But soon, others take up The Idea, and the stage is set for controversy. The familiar Spiritual “Gimme That Old-Time Religion” appears, trying to shake The Idea loose from its tentative moorings. After three successive attempts, the naysayers win a temporary victory, and the music plunges back into the brooding, fearful sound of the opening. But faith returns coupled with understanding, this time with a more thoughtful hymn (Nearer, My God, to Thee”). Darwin’s Idea appears alongside and within the hymn’s music, not in conflict with it, and the piece ends in peaceful resolution. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- To review the archives of CLUBGGY or Join/Leave the list go to: http://listserv.utk.edu/archives/clubggy.html