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Events

Past Events

Visit of Jorge Almeida Guimarães, President of CAPES

When: Friday, February 26, 2010
Where: University of Arizona
Overview: Dr. Jorge Almeida Guimarães, President of CAPES, the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education, visited the University of Arizona at the invitation of the University of Arizona Office of Western Hemispheric Programs, the Graduate College and the Center for Latin American Studies. Dr. Guimarães gave a presentation entitled: “Issues and Trends in Brazilian Graduate Education: Opportunities for Collaboration with the U.S.” Dr. Guimarães also toured Biosphere 2.

Amazon-PIRE Field Campaign

When: November-December 2009
Where: Tapajós National Forest, near Santarém, Pará, Brazil
Overview: A team of 10 PIRE participants from the U.S. and Brazil worked 6 weeks, climbing trees in the Tapajós Forest to measure leaf traits.
http://www.ipernity.com/doc/amazonie-enchantee

Amazon-Andes Project Meeting

When: November 16-18, 2009
Where: Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Overview: Workshop in Ouro Preto on modeling ecosystem response to climate change. Amazon-PIRE’s collaboration with the Amazon-Andes project.
http://www.oeb.harvard.edu/faculty/moorcroft/andes-amazon/index.html

“Music of the Sphere”

When: Friday, November 6, 2009
Where: Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ
Overview: Pianist Simone Gorete Machado, in conjunction with Dr. Scott Saleska, Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation Amazon-PIRE Program will presented classical works inspired by the sights and sounds of the rainforest.

The Second Annual UofA Amazon-PIRE Fall Meeting

When: Tuesday , October 22, 12-1:30 p.m.
Where: University of Arizona, Marshall Building, Room 531
Overview: From sub-Andean lakes in Peru to lowland terra firme forests in Brazil, our Amazon-PIRE students have been busy! Join us for lunch and learn all about their travels and research during the past year. Agenda includes:

  • Field reports and slide show on the second annual PIRE course in the Caxiuanã National Forest
  • Research results overview Amazon-PIRE students, post-docs, and colleagues
  • Research and education directions of Amazon-PIRE for the coming year and beyond, including plans with: Biosphere 2, BioMe project.

Field Course in Caxiuanã, Brazil

When: July 19 - 29, 2009
Where: Caxiuanã, Pará, Brazil
Overview: The second annual Amazon-PIRE field course took place at the Museu Goeldi Ferreira Penna Field Research Station in the Caxiuanã National Forest, Pará, Brazil.

Tara Massad, Tulane University: Seminar: The Chemical Ecology of Tropical Reforestation

When: Friday, May 29, 2009, 10:00 A.M.
Where: BioSciences West, Room 302
Overview: Tara Massad, a PIRE postdoctoral candidate who is completing her PhD at Tulane University, discussed her dissertation research regarding the chemical ecology of tropical reforestation.

Uromi Goodale, Yale University: Seminar: The ecophysiology of pioneer tree species in relation to their disturbance ecology in wet lowland rainforest, Sri Lanka

When: Monday, May 18, 2009, 1:00 P.M.
Where: BioSciences West
Overview: Uromi Goodale, PIRE postdoctoral candidate, discussed her dissertation research of the ecophysiology of pioneer tree species in relation to their disturbance ecology in the wet lowland rainforest of Sri Lanka.

Elizabeth Lyons, Program Coordinator with NSF will speak about: "How to Secure NSF Funding for International Collaborations"

When: Thursday, March 26, 2009, 1:00 P.M.
Where: Louise Foucar Marshall Building, Room 531
Overview: Dr. Elizabeth Lyons is the Program Coordinator for the Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) Program in NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering. Dr. Lyons will give a special mid-day seminar entitled: "How to Secure NSF Funding for International Collaborations." Following the seminar, Dr. Lyons will meet with students who have international education or research experience.

A Community Workshop: How can we best use the Biosphere 2 Tropical Rainforest to advance understanding of tropical forest function under climate change?

When:Friday, March 6 & Saturday, March 7, 2009
Where: University of Arizona Biosphere 2, Oracle, AZ
Workshop

Survival of the Sphere? Rainforest Notes

When:Thursday, March 5, 2009
Where: 1) Science Seminar: What is the Future of Tropical Forests under Climate Change? 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Louise Foucar Marshall Building, Room 531 2) Narrative and Musical Performance 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. UA School of Music, Room 232
Free to the public! Light refreshments will be served before the performance.

Overview:
This is a special two-part event exploring the science and cultural aspects of tropical rainforests under climate change. Deborah Clark, world-renowned tropical ecologist, will kick off the event at 3:30 p.m. with a seminar entitled: What is the Future of Tropical Forests under Climate Change? Following will be an evocative performance by Brazilian classical pianist Simone Gorete Machado and University of Arizona ecologist Scott Saleska. This project has been made possible by Biosphere 2, The UA School of Music, NSF Amazon-PIRE and The Institute for Environment and Society.

Celebration for Charles Darwin's Birthday

When:Thursday, February 12, 2009
Where: Student Union Memorial Ballroom, 3-5 p.m. Directions
Overview: This celebration of Darwin's birthday includes a birthday cake, science demonstration booths, music, and Darwin poetry readings. Sponsored by the University of Arizona (UA) Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department, the Poetry Center, the UA Bookstore, & others at UA.

"Music of the Sphere"

When: Sunday, January 25, 2009
Where: The University of Arizona Biosphere 2, Oracle, AZ. Directions
Overview: The University of Arizona Biosphere 2 will present "Music of the Sphere", the first in a series of fine arts performances. This celebration of the Brazilian Rainforest features a kaleidoscope of music, beginning with the eclectic REVEILLE MENS CHORUS, who performed in Brazil in 2005. Pianist Simone Gorete Machado, in conjunction with Dr. Scott Saleska, Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation Amazon-PIRE Program, will present classical works inspired by the sights and sounds of the rainforest. The dynamic guitar duo BRAZUKAS will be entertaining on the beach and the infectious rhythms of the Brazilian dance band SAMBALANCO will finish the afternoon. These performances provide a perfect complement to the guided tour of this wondrous space where science, and now the arts, lives.

First Annual International Amazon-PIRE Meeting, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

When: November 18, 2008
Where: Studio 5 Convention Center, Rio Negro Room
Overview: Report on first year activities and plans for the future
http://www.lbaconferencia.org/lbaconf_2008/eng/assoc_mtgs.htm

International Scientific Conference in Brazil: Amazon in Perspective – Integrated Science for a Sustainable Future

When: November 17-20, 2008
Where: Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.
Overview: The conference will call together current major research programs in the Amazon, including LBA (Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Project in the Amazon), GEOMA (Amazonian Environmental Modeling Network) and PPBio (Biodiversity Research Program). The focus of the conference will be to foment an active debate emphasizing synergy and cooperation and integration of research that will result in an interdisciplinary analysis of current and future scenarios of environmental changes in the Amazon.

In disseminating the latest results on biodiversity, climate and land-use-cover research in the Amazon, as well as discussing and analyzing various scenarios of environment change caused by deforestation and climate change, the hope is to identify new strategies and priorities, both for research planning for the region and for actions supporting sustainable development.
http://www.lbaconferencia.org/lbaconf_2008/eng/index.htm

First Annual International Amazon-PIRE Meeting, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

When: November 18, 2008
Where: Studio 5 Convention Center, Rio Negro Room
Overview: Report on first year activities and plans for the future
http://www.lbaconferencia.org/lbaconf_2008/eng/assoc_mtgs.htm

The first annual UofA Amazon-PIRE fall meeting

When: Tuesday, Oct. 21, 1:30–3:00
Where: Marshall Bldg, SAHRA, Room 531
Refreshments will be served!
What: Come and hear what Amazon-PIRE students and colleagues have been up to (and get to know them if you haven't met), and let's make plans for the coming year. Agenda includes:

  • Report on the first Annual PIRE course from students and teachers
  • Report on research progress from Amazon-PIRE students and post-docs
  • Discussion of research directions (including in Biosphere 2!) for the coming year and beyond

Mark Bush, Florida Institute of Technology: "Revisiting Virginity: Is Amazonia a cultural landscape? (or what was the level of pre-Columbian disturbance in Amazonia?)"

What: ISPE Brown Bag talk
When: Tuesday, Oct 21, 11:30-12:30
Where: large ISPE meeting room

Mark Bush, Florida Institute of Technology: "Ice-age aridity in Amazonia and the refuge hypothesis for tropical diversity: Can you hear the fat lady singing?"

What: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology departmental seminar
When: Monday, Oct 20, 4pm-5pm
Where: Biosciences West room 301

Lianhong Gu, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Scientist, will speak about: "The keeper and breaker of the global carbon cycle since the industrial revolution"

When: Wednesday, March 12, 2008, at 3 pm.
Where: 5th floor of Marshall Building, Room 531.
What: Dr. Lianhong Gu is a R&D Staff Scientist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Environmental Sciences Division who specializes in carbon cycle. Dr. Lianhong Gu will give an informal seminar entitled "The keeper and breaker of the global carbon cycle since the industrial revolution".
Abstract: Terrestrial and oceanic sinks currently absorb a substantial portion of the industrial carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere, preventing the realization of the full climatic impact of fossil-fuel emissions. The dynamics of these sinks critically influence the future trajectory of climate change. There have been growing concerns on the potential weakening of terrestrial carbon sinks due to autumn warming, droughts, wild fires, and deforestation and of oceanic sinks due to the reduced carbonate buffering capacity and climate change. In this talk, I will show that the global carbon sink strength (GCSS, the annual sum of net oceanic and terrestrial sinks with land-use emissions included) has been accelerating since 1900 up to the present (2006), following a relatively stable period of small global source since the industrial revolution (~ 1750). A very tight linear relationship exists between GCSS and atmospheric CO2 for the whole 256-year period. However, the partition of GCSS into land and oceanic sink components and land-use emissions indicates that the carbon uptake by undisturbed terrestrial ecosystems may have already saturated with respect to rising atmospheric CO2.
In addition to the long-term trend, I will show that the Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991 had a huge impact on the global carbon cycle and was responsible for the two largest carbon uptake records ever observed since the industrial revolution.

Brad Christoffersen (University of Arizona and Amazon- PIRE) spoke at the UA EEB departmental seminar on: "How important is root functioning for modeling of water,energy, and carbon fluxes across Amazonia?"

When: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department (EEB) Tuesday Noon Seminar Series, Tuesday, March 5, 2008 at 12:30 pm.
Where: University of Arizona, BioSciences West, Room 208.
What: UA EEB graduate student and Amazon-PIRE fellow Brad Christoffersen spoke about: "How important is root functioning for modeling of water,energy, and carbon fluxes across Amazonia?"
Abstract: Amazon forests play a central role in maintaining global climate stability as a potent driver of the hydrological cycle and as a large store of carbon. Recent work in land surface models has linked deep roots and hydraulic redistribution by roots (HR) in the Amazon basin to significant improvements in model predictions of water and carbon fluxes, and hence global climate. More recently, model revisions of parameterizations of belowground hydrology have produced similar improvements. While such modifications produce qualitatively similar results, they represent different belowground mechanisms which I propose to assess under simultaneous incorporation into a land surface model. A factorial model experiment driven by observed meteorology at a network of sites will help tease apart the relative role of revised hydrology, deep roots and HR. Model results will then be compared to a multi-year dataset from a network of eight eddy covariance measures of water, energy, and carbon balance in the Amazon, bounding a large range of vegetation types, precipitation seasonality, and land uses. This work is the first to intercompare different belowground mechanisms of root functioning in light of recent improvements to model hydrology, and will contribute to a more accurate representation of biogeophysics and carbon cycling in coupled models.

International Workshop in Brazil: Interactions Between Climate,Forests, and Land Use in the Amazon Basin: Modeling and Mitigating Large-Scale Savannization

When: From Monday, February 25 until Tuesday, February 26, 2008.
Where: Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.
Who: Dr. Michael T. Coe and Dr.Daniel C. Nepstad, Woods Hole Research Center, are organizing this 2008 NSF/Moore Modeling Workshop.
Wendy Kingerlee, wkingerlee@whrc.org, is in charge of logistics.

Workshop Overview: The purpose of the workshop, entitled "Interactions Between Climate, Forests, and Land Use in the Amazon Basin: Modeling and Mitigating Large-Scale Savannization", is to review the state of our knowledge of these interactions in the Amazon and to design a science plan that could significantly narrow the gaps in this knowledge.
This workshop is hosted by the Woods Hole Research Center and sponsored by the United States National Science Foundation and the Moore Foundation.

International Workshop in Brazil: Aerosols in the Amazon - Changes and their Consequences from Past and Future Human Activities

When: From Monday, February 18 until Friday, February 22, 2008.
Where: Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.
Who: Dr. Scot Martin (chair), Harvard University's David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) and Dr. Paulo Artaxo, University of Sao Paulo (USP), among others, are organizing this international workshop. Please refer to its website for more information.
Workshop Overview and Goals: Amazonian aerosol particles (including their formation, transformations, and effects on clouds and radiation) are very important as a climate regulator in the southern hemisphere. Therefore, understanding the effects on them of past and future human activities is a priority for planning strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change. The goals of the workshop are to define research priorities, consider new research approaches, and address mechanisms for international collaboration, in particular to past and future changes arising from human activities, especially as tied to economic development plans for the region.

Informal meeting at the 2007 AGU Fall Meeting to discuss LBA-MIP

Where: Buena Vista Meeting Room, The Galleria Park Hotel, 191 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94104. Here is a map from the Moscone Center area to The Galleria Park Hotel.
What: Informal meeting with refreshments at the 2007 AGU Fall Meeting to discuss progress and next steps for the LBA Model Biogeochemical/Vegetation Intercomparison Project (LBA-MIP) for the Amazon of South America. This project was created to bring together modeling groups to promote understanding on how the different models simulate the ecosystems and biogeophysical processes within LBA. This initiative is led by Luis Gustavo de Goncalves, Inez Fung, Humberto da Rocha and Scott Saleska.

Paul Moorcroft (Harvard University and Amazon-PIRE) speaks at the UA EEB departmental seminar on: "How close are we to a predictive science of the biosphere?"

When: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department (EEB) Monday Seminar Series, Monday, November 26, 2007 at 4:30 pm.
Where: University of Arizona, Biosciences West, Room 301.
What:Dr. Paul Moorcroft is a Professor of Biology at Harvard University who specializes in terrestrial ecosystem dynamics and the response of terrestrial ecosystems to global change.

Joost van Haren (University of Arizona and Amazon- PIRE) speaks at the UA EEB departmental seminar on: "Influence of tropical tree species on soil biogeochemistry"

When: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department (EEB) Tuesday Noon Seminar Series, Tuesday, November 16th, 2007 at 12:30 pm.
Where: University of Arizona, BioSciences West, Room 208.
What:UA graduate student Joost van Haren spoke about "Influence of tropical tree species on soil biogeochemistry".

Celebration of International Collaboration at Biosphere 2

The Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department (EEB) and Biosphere 2 invite you to celebrate international collaboration, showcasing the PIRE Program in Amazon - Climate Interactions during the UA International Education Week 2007.
When: morning of Friday, November 16th, 2007.
Where: Tropical Forest Biome of Biosphere 2 (Vans left the UA Main Campus at 9:20 am for the Biosphere 2 and returned at 2:20 pm.)
What: Our research team offered a tour of Biosphere 2 (B2), focusing on how B2 Tropical Forest Biome will contribute to our Partnership for International Research and Education in the Amazon of Brazil.