When
Speaker: Sasha C. Reed, US Geological Survey, Moab Utah
Date: Wednesday, October 24th, 2018
Time: 3:00-4:00 pm
Location: ENR2, S107
Abstract: Dryland ecosystems represent our planet?s largest biome and are home to billions of
people, yet, our understanding of the importance of drylands in global functions and climate feedbacks
is still relatively poor. Further, while we know arid and semiarid ecosystems can be affected by a host
of anthropogenic changes ? such as climate change, increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations, land
use change, and nutrient deposition ? a synthetic understanding of the mechanisms and larger-scale
consequences of these changes remains elusive. In this talk, I will use a biogeochemical lens to
examine how dryland plants and soils are affecting and affected by environmental change. I will
address questions of how drylands work and how they are responding to our rapidly changing world,
covering topics such as drought and temperature effects in warm biomes, the potential for mass
mortality events, unexpected consequences of nitrogen deposition, and emerging tools to support
improved understanding and decision making. I hope to leave you with a biogeochemical appreciation
for the importance and complicated connections of these spectacular, dynamic, and dry systems. I will
also discuss my experience as a woman in federal science, including sharing my work on federal task
forces to retain women at all levels and to reduce occurrences of harassment and exclusion. I will end
with suggestions for our next generation of scientists as they build their community of practice.