Conservation Paleobiology in the Coming Decades; Ithaca, NY; September 25-26, 2009

Paleontological Research Institute, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

Conservation Paleobiology in the Coming Decades Greg Dietl Paleontological Research Institute EAR-0940658 Abstract: Conservation paleobiology is a new, socially relevant subdiscipline in paleontology that applies geohistorical data and analyses to current problems related to conservation biology and human-induced environmental change. This new field is part of a growing awareness that cross-disciplinary team efforts are necessary to solve complex scientific problems facing humanity. This proposal seeks support for a workshop that would attempt to refine the scope and content of conservation paleobiology and explore how it can fulfill its interdisciplinary potential. In particular, the workshop, Conservation Paleobiology in the Coming Decades (CPCD), is designed to identify the infrastructural needs that will best facilitate disciplinary and cross-disciplinary research directed towards understanding how societal activities have impinged on the natural world. The CPCD workshop will be held later this year at the Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, NY. A final report will be prepared outlining the recommendations of the steering committee, which summarizes the ideas generated during the workshop. This endeavor has promise to change the way we address challenges as a community rather than only as individual researchers, thus potentially establishing this new field as inherently interdisciplinary at the outset.