2023 Spring Seminar Presents

Dr. Kathy Kelsey

Assistant Professor
Dept. of Geography & Environmental Science
University of Colorado Denver

WHEN: Jan. 27, 2023, at Noon

WHERE: Seminar will be presented via Zoom and also in person in the North Classroom, Room 1207.

Please email jacki.craig@ucdenver.edu to receive the Zoom Meeting Link. Requests can be
submitted any time before the Seminar but not after 10:00am the day of the seminar. 

Exploring the causes and consequences of phenological change in Arctic ecosystems

Phenology, the timing of biological events such as vegetation leaf‐out or animal migration, is changing as a result of climate warming. Phenological change is especially rapid in the Arctic, leading us to ask: what is driving changing phenology in this region, and what are the consequences of these changes? In this seminar I will report on work from two regions of Alaska: an investigation of the role of preceding winter snow and temperature conditions in controlling vegetation phenology in northern Alaska, and an experiment exploring changes to ecosystem level carbon exchange resulting from phenological change across multiple trophic levels in western Alaska. These works demonstrate that changing phenology in the Arctic has the potential for global consequences through both potential feedbacks to the carbon‐climate system, and though effects translated to temperate regions via migratory herbivores who travel thousands of miles to and from the Arctic annually.

Everyone is welcome to join the seminar, please email jacki.craig@ucdenver.edu to receive the Zoom link. Requests can be submitted any time before the seminar but not after 10:00am the day of the seminar.