EVENTS

Climate Change: Birds, Bees, Flowers and Trees

Are North American birds shifting their ranges farther north? Are some plants beginning to flower earlier in the year? Are lowland species moving to higher elevations?

Learn how rising temperatures are affecting North American songbirds, flowering plants, and other species from Gregory S. Butcher, director of bird conservation at the National Audubon Society; and David Inouye, director of the Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology graduate program at the University of Maryland. Participants will learn how the impacts of climate change are studied in plants and animals as well as how to observe and collect data as "citizen scientists."

Speakers 

Dr. Gregory S. Butcher is the director of Bird Conservation for the National Audubon Society. In this role he oversees Audubon's State of the Birds analyses and other research related to bird conservation. He also works closely with Audubon's partner organizations including Bird Conservation Alliance, BirdLife International, the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, and Partners in Flight. Butcher began working for Audubon as director of Citizen Science in December 2002. Less than a year later, he became director of Bird Conservation. He has had a long association with Audubon's Christmas Bird Count: as a participant since 1965, as a count compiler and database manager from 1984 to 92 and as a researcher since 1984.

Dr. David Inouye has been studying the interactions between pollinators and flowers at Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory since 1971. The changes in flowering timing and plant species composition that he has observed over this period have been crucial to understanding how climate change impacts high-altitude ecosystems. Inouye teaches ecology and conservation biology at the University of Maryland, where he directs the Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology graduate program. His publications have covered subjects including the effects of abrupt climate change, the relationship between snowpack and plant flowering and plant-animal interactions such as nectar robbing, ant-plant mutualism and seed predation. He is currently serving on the boards of the Ecological Society of America and the National Phenology Network.

This event is organized by the National Environmental Education Foundation, www.neefusa.org.  NEEF partners with professionals in health, education, media, business and public land management to promote daily actions for helping people protect and enjoy the environment.

Reservations encouraged. RSVP to ksm@nas.edu or call 202-334-1201.

Museum Location Located at the corner of 6th and E Streets, NW in downtown Washington, DC the Marian Koshland Science Museum is within walking distance of the National Mall, two Metro stations, the Verizon Center, and several other museums and attractions.