IRES Seminar Series
Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)
Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall
*********************************************************************************
*** VIEW THE SEMINAR VIDEO ***
Managing human-dominated landscapes at multiple scales for ecosystem services and multi-functionality
Abstract:
How can we effectively manage human-dominated landscapes for both people and nature? This is a critical question as people increasingly impact and modify natural landscapes, but also expect these areas to provide multiple ecosystem services and conserve biodiversity. Using examples from agricultural, urban, and natural ecosystems at local to regional to national scales, I will show how landscape structure underlies many of these relationships, that it is equally important to understand where ecosystem services are provided by ecosystems and where they are demanded by people, and describe new and novel methods to pinpoint critical locations for ecosystem service provision and conservation planning. Working to integrate this knowledge into current decision-making should lead to landscapes that better meet the needs of both people and nature.
Dr. Matthew Mitchell
NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow
Bio:
Matthew Mitchell is a NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow at UBC’s Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, with an adjunct position at The Centre for Sustainable Food Systems. He completed his Ph.D. at McGill University in 2014, M.Sc. at the University of Alberta in 2006, and B.Sc. (Honours) at the University of Victoria in 2002. His research focuses on how to manage human-dominated agricultural and urban landscapes for both biodiversity and ecosystem services, with the goal to provide knowledge that can inform and improve land management decisions for both people and nature.
Photo Credit: Robin Harder, Postdoc Fellow at IRES