Ecologist Andrew Hansen to speak about ecological conservation on Feb. 4 at WWU

Andrew Hansen, from Montana State University’s College of Ecology, will present “A Macroecology Approach for Conservation in Forests and National Parks” at 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4, in Communications Facility Room 120 on the WWU campus.

The event is free and open to the public and is part of the WWU Huxley College of the Environment Speaker Series, which brings together the environmental studies and environmental science communities along with WWU and Bellingham community members to discuss matters of contemporary environmental concern in the region and the world.

Hansen will discuss his work examining the vulnerability of ecosystems to change in vegetation structure and primary productivity, based on various geographic variation studies of forests and national parks. In addition, he will report on the spatial variation rates due to changes in climate and land use.

The results from these studies are the basis of a framework for tailoring conservation efforts to local ecosystem conditions.

For more information on this presentation please contact Patrick Buckley, an associate professor of Geography within WWU’s Huxley College of the Environment at (360) 650-4773 or patrick.buckley@wwu.edu.

Huxley College's academic programs reflect a broad view of the physical, biological, social and cultural world. This innovative and interdisciplinary approach established Huxley College as a leader in the field more than 40 years ago. Since then the College has continued to lead, earning international recognition for the quality of its programs, the expertise of its faculty and the knowledge of its graduates.