Transcript POSOHtalk-17June

So who won?
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1st: Sunday morning
2nd: Saturday afternoon
3rd: Saturday morning
4th: Sunday afternoon
Wikipedia!
• Flux tower time series Sat/Sun
BAMS State of the Climate 2011
2090 (IPCC 4th Assessment)
Locally: Warmer winters, drier summers
Temperature
Precipitation
Summer
Winter
http://www.wicci.wisc.edu/
Three Big Ideas
• Our burning of almost 10 billion tons of carbon in
fossil fuels every year allows us to support a world
with 7 billion people
• However, this act is changing the climate by 3-9
degrees F through doubling or tripling greenhouse
gases in the air such as carbon dioxide
• Ecosystems and its constituents play a big and
complicated role through the global carbon cycle and
currently absorb half of our fossil fuel emissions
8/29/11
Chapin et al., 2011
Fig. 1.1
• Source: NIACS, USFS
Source: Le Quéré et al. 2012; Global Carbon Project 2012
The dashed land-use change line does not include management-climate interactions
The land sink was a source in 1987 and 1998 (1997 visible as an emission)
Source: Le Quéré et al. 2012; Global Carbon Project 2012
• Climate changes with:
– A change in forcing (sun strength, Earth’s
orbit, volcano frequency, greenhouse
gases)
– Is amplified by positive feedbacks
The carbon cycle feedback is large and hard to predict
Booth et al., 2012
Source to atmosphere
Old-growth
mixed forest
Regional
Tall tower
Shrub
wetland
Mature
hardwood
Sink from atmosphere
Buffam et al., 2011
Three Big Ideas
• Our burning of almost __ billion tons of ________
every year allows us to support a world with _ billion
people
• However, this act is changing the climate by ____
degrees F through ______________ greenhouse
gases in the air such as _____________
• Ecosystems and its constituents play a big and
complicated role through the __________ cycle and
currently absorb ___ of our fossil fuel emissions
Three Big Ideas
• Our burning of almost 10 billion tons of fossil fuels
every year allows us to support a world with 7 billion
people
• However, this act is changing the climate by 3-9
degrees F through doubling or tripling greenhouse
gases in the air such as carbon dioxide
• Ecosystems and its constituents play a big and
complicated role through the global carbon cycle and
currently absorb half of our fossil fuel emissions
Waewaunen!
Part 2: Career Talk
• Where do you want to be 5 years from
now? 10? 20?
• What do scientists do? How do you
become one? Is it any fun? Does it pay?
• What skills do you need?
Big Questions About Our Forests
• PAST: How has the legacy of land management
influence the trajectory of carbon uptake?
• FUTURE: What changes to the land should we
expect to see with warmer, wetter winters and drier
summers for this area?
• PRESENT: How might we manage the land to
mitigate future climate change and how do we adapt
our relationship with land to sustain forest production,
biodiversity, recreation, culture?
We need smart people
• Many tribes in the area have managed
forests in a sustainable way for a long time –
what lessons can the rest of society learn
here?
• What do the we need to know about climate
change but don’t know today?
• How do we best train future scientists,
engineers, foresters, teachers to gain and
apply wisdom about sustainability in face of
global change?
• Global change science research involves:
– Analysis of observations of air, water, land,
humans over space and time
– Lab and field experiments of these quantities
– Theory and math about the physics, chemistry,
biology, geology, and economics of the Earth
System
– Computational simulation of various Earth system
models to test hypotheses against observations
– Synthesis, communication, and application of
findings from all of the above
• All require:
– good questions, precise observations, and
working in diverse teams!
Science careers
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Natural resource management (public/private)
Non-profit, non-governmental organizations
Scientific trades and engineering
Environmental consulting, lobbying, law
Recreation, tourism
Science media/writing
Science policy
K-12 education, museums, informal ed.
Industry research / analysis
Government research
Science funding (public and foundation)
Higher education
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Faculty: Teaching, research, service/outreach
Research: Scientist, technical, engineer
Others?
Degree Routes
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Associate’s
Bachelor’s
M.S. – professional/research degree
Ph.D. – research degree
Post-doctoral fellowship – scientist in
training position
What should I major in?
• Math / Computer Science
• Physics / Chemistry
• Meteorology / Soil Science / Geology /
Oceanography
• Ecology / Biology
• Environmental science / Natural
resources / Agriculture / Forestry
• Economics
Emerging: NEON
Thanks!