December 13, 10am ET: SE CASC Science Seminar – Southeast Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change Management Network

Join us for our Fall/Winter virtual science seminar series highlighting SE CASC funded projects supporting resource management actions across the Southeast. Each month a SE CASC researcher will provide an overview of their work and the management implications of their research findings.

Learn about others in the Fall/Winter 2022 Seminar Series

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Southeast Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change Management Network
Dr. Brett Scheffers (University of Florida), Dr. Deah Lieurance (University of Florida), and Dr. Wesley Daniel (USGS)
December 13, 2022 | 10AM ET
View recording here

Ecosystems in the US are being transformed by two large-scale interacting threats: invasive species and climate change. Recently, regional networks of invasive species managers; state, federal, and tribal agency representatives; and research scientists have formed to tackle the challenges posed by the intersection of invasive species and climate change. These Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change (RISCC) management networks aim to reduce the joint effects of climate change and invasive species by synthesizing relevant science, sharing the needs and knowledge of managers, building stronger scientist-manager communities, and conducting priority research. The Southeast RISCC was established earlier this year and joins a national network of RISCC networks in the Pacific Islands, Northwest, North Central, and Northeast. The Southeast is particularly important because many potential invasions are currently suppressed by cooler climates and as the climate warms, the Southeast may serve as a possible source of invasion towards other RISCC regions. Additionally, the Southeast is prone to many extreme weather events that may also facilitate biological invasions.

This webinar will detail the creation of the Southeast RISCC, highlight some results from their managers’ and researchers’ surveys, and discuss their integration with the other RISCC networks.

More About the Speakers:
Dr. Brett Scheffers is a global change ecologist with interests in drivers of biological organization in space and time and the effects of human disturbance on these processes. Scheffers joined the University of Florida in 2015 and is a member of the Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Department (WEC). His research encompasses the broad topic of global change biology to include how climate change, habitat loss, and the trade of wildlife impacts communities of plants and animals. 

Dr. Deah Lieurance is an Extension Scientist in the Agronomy Department at the University of Florida (UF). She has been the coordinator of the UF/IFAS Assessment of Non-Native Plants in Florida’s Natural Areas since 2013. She received her Ph.D. from Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio in 2012 and prior to that spent 3 years in Ft. Lauderdale working on the development of biocontrol agents at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Invasive Plant Research Laboratory.

Dr. Wesley M. Daniel is a supervisory fisheries biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey at the Wetland and Aquatic Research Center in Gainesville, FL. He is the coordinator for the Non-indigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) Database and supervises a team of eight scientists. Wes is an aquatic landscape ecologist, and his research focuses on identifying and modeling the impacts and introduction pathways of invasive species.