11 April 2018, 00:00 UTC
This course will look at the effects of climate change on Arctic tundra and how a warming Arctic will impact global climate. We will discuss the role of permafrost in global carbon cycling, and explore the movement of carbon dioxide between tundra ecosystems and the atmosphere as it is taken up through photosynthesis and released into the atmosphere through respiration. We will focus on how climate change is affecting these carbon cycle processes and how the carbon balance of the Arctic will change in the future.
Dr. Susan Natali is a Scientist at the Woods Hole Research Center studying the response of arctic ecosystems to a changing environment and the impacts of these changes on global climate. Her research examines feedbacks on global carbon cycling from permafrost thaw and impacts of fire and landscape characteristics on permafrost vulnerability. She is an active member and synthesis lead in the Permafrost Carbon Network, an international network of scientists working to incorporate impacts of permafrost thaw into global climate models.Read More Dr. Natali has presented her research at the United Nations Climate Change Conferences in Bonn and Paris (COP 21), and she has been actively communicating permafrost carbon research to policy makers, media and public audiences. Dr. Natali is also passionate about educating the next generation of scientists. She has collaborated with John Wood and other teachers to bring her research to K-12 students, and she is faculty member of The Polaris Project (http://www.thepolarisproject.org/), an undergraduate arctic research program.
John is a STEM teacher a Polar educator and a PEI Council Member. Since 1978 he has worked in both polar regions, engaging students and the general public in outreach activities and presentations. He has worked with Sue for the past six years as a teacher with PolarTREC, collaborating on carbon cycling in the tundra and developing lessons and educational activities aimed at creating awareness for students and public audiences. He has a degree in Biology from Chapman University and a Master’s Degree in Education from the California State University at Dominguez Hills.
