Thursday, August 6, 2009: 1:30 PM-5:00 PM
Blrm A, Albuquerque Convention Center
SYMP 19 - Integrating Ecology and Poverty Alleviation
The science of ecology has frequently been excluded from the international development agenda for many reasons. Increasingly, however, there has been a renewed interest in finding more sustainable means of development, grounded in ecological knowledge. For example, EcoAgriculture Partnerships, EcoHealth presented at the 2006 Ecological Society of America, and EcoNutrition proposed by Deckelbaum et al. 2007, seek to integrate ecological knowledge with agriculture, health, and nutrition, respectively. Kareiva et al. (2006, 2008) have also championed this need, highlighting that poverty hotspots, and biodiversity hotspots overlap nearly perfectly when mapped, calling on ecologists to “think outside the reserve” and consider the role that ecology and ecological knowledge can play in the sustainable management of these hotspots. This has been facilitated by the increasing attention given to biodiversity and ecosystem function studies that tremendously changed ecological paradigms which previously viewed species as passive recipients of environmental variation, to newer paradigms stressing the active role that species play in driving ecosystem functions and services. These ecological investigations, coupled with the attention that ecosystem services have garnered in the past decade, have set the stage for ecologists to increasingly consider the role of our science in contexts other than conservation. Ecological functions that have drawn attention include the role of organisms in pollination, pest control, carbon sequestration, and movement of diseases amongst others. More recently, ecological interactions have been found to play important roles at numerous scales, from interactions between bacterial communities in the human gut on nutrition, to landscape scale interactions mitigating the effects of increasingly frequent extreme weather events. These efforts are first steps; however, more attention is needed on the many other ways that ecology can contribute to poverty reduction. The main objective of this symposium is to explore ecological dimensions of poverty alleviation including human health, hunger, economic well-being, gender, disasters, water, sanitation, energy needs, infrastructure development, and livelihood diversification.
Organizer:	Fabrice DeClerck, CATIE
Co-organizers:	Cristina Rumbaitis del Rio, Rockefeller Foundation Jane Ingram, Wildlife Conservation Society
Moderator:	Fabrice De Clerck, CATIE
1:30 PM			Introductory Remarks
1:40 PM	SYMP 19-1		Ecology and hunger Sean M. Smukler, Columbia University, Jeff Milder, Cornell University, Roselin Reimans, Columbia University, Fabrice DeClerck, CATIE
2:00 PM	SYMP 19-2		The role of ecological systems and natural resource management in reducing vulnerability to hazards Jane Ingram, Wildlife Conservation Society
2:20 PM	SYMP 19-3		The role of ecology in mitigating and adapting to the societal impacts of climate change Cristina Rumbaitis del Rio, Rockefeller Foundation
2:40 PM	SYMP 19-4		Ecological education and rural development Robin R. Sears, The School for Field Studies, Angela M. Steward, Northeastern University
3:00 PM			Break
3:10 PM	SYMP 19-5		The potential of carbon offsetting projects in the forestry sector for poverty reduction in developing countries Esteve Corbera, University of East Anglia
3:30 PM	SYMP 19-6		Ecology-poverty consideration of developing sustainable energy sources Rob Bailis, Yale University
3:50 PM	SYMP 19-7		Emerging human health threats from global environmental change: A critical role for ecologists Samuel S. Myers, Harvard University, Felicia Keesing, Bard College, Richard S. Ostfeld, Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Karen Levy, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Jeremy Hess, Emory University
4:10 PM	SYMP 19-8		The ecological dimensions of population growth, migration, and urbanization Sandra R. Baptista, Columbia University, Alex de Sherbinin, Columbia University, Jason Bremner, Population Reference Bureau, Susana B. Adamo, Columbia University, Sara R. Curran, University of Washington, Peter J. Marcotullio, Hunter College, CUNY
4:30 PM			Panel Discussion

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See more of The 94th ESA Annual Meeting (August 2 -- 7, 2009)