Invited & special sessions

The following invited and special sessions emphasize interdisciplinary approaches and solutions that have or are emerging to address the conservation challenges facing the Southwest’s land, water, biodiversity, and cultures. A tremendous thanks goes to all of the organizers!

A macrosystems approach to managing southwestern riparian ecosystems facing climate change and exotic species invasion

• Organizer: Gery Allan, Northern Arizona University, Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Adaptable Western Landscapes, 2 hours

After fire: tools to empower our collective response and recovery

• Organizers: Rachel Bean and Zander Evans, Forest Stewards Guild, 2 hours 

Considering host-microbial interactions in ecosystem restoration

• Organizers: Beatrice Bock, Northern Arizona University Department of Biological Sciences, and Lisa Markovchick, Center for Adaptable Western Landscapes, 2 hours

Managing wildfires for forest restoration on the Colorado Plateau and Southwest Region

• Organizers: Melanie Colavito and David Huffman, Northern Arizona University, Ecological Restoration Institute, 2 hours

Addressing data gaps related to the effects of mining breccia-pipe uranium deposits in the Grand Canyon Region

• Organizers: Katie Walton-Day, U.S. Geological Survey, Colorado Water Science Center, and Jo Ellen Hinck, U.S. Geological Survey, Columbia Environmental Research Center, 2 hours

Remote sensing on the Colorado Plateau and Southwest Region: recent advances and applications in environmental change detection for resource management decision support

• Organizers: Laura Durning, Northern Arizona University, School of Earth and Sustainability; Joel Sankey, U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Temuulen Sankey, Northern Arizona University, School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems; and Steven Sesnie, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4 hours

Colorado River natural resources in an era of uncertainty: using science to inform river management

• Organizers: Drew Eppehimer, Paul Grams, and Emily Palmquist, U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, 4 hours

Advancing solutions: San Francisco Peaks Traditional Cultural Property

• Organizer: Alicyn Gitlin, Sierra Club – Grand Canyon Chapter; Chris Jocks, Ph.D. (Kahnawake Mohawk), Northern Arizona University, Department  of Applied Indigenous Studies; and Shawn Mulford, Diné  4 hours

The challenges, successes, and future steps in figuring out the vulnerability of southwestern cultural resources to climate change

• Organizers: Sallie Hejl, Lauren Meyer, Pam Benjamin, and Evan Oskierko-Jeznacki, National Park Service, 2 hours

Striving for Equity in Science Communication

• Organizer: Jo Ellen Hinck, U.S. Geological Survey, Columbia Environmental Research Center, 4 hours

Science and restoration of biological soil crusts in a changing environment

• Organizers: Sierra Jech, University of Colorado Boulder,  Jasmine Anenberg, Northern Arizona University, Julie Bethany Rakes, Arizona State University, and  John Bacovcin, Colorado State University, 2 hours

Culturally responsive and inclusive teaching in natural resource management for advancing solutions to rapid environmental change

• Organizers: Yeon-Su Kim, Anita Antoninka, Fulé, Northern Arizona University, School of Forestry, 4 hours

Integrating Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and conservation priorities to improve land management outcomes

• Organizers: Nanebah Lyndon, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kaibab National Forest; Sara Souther, Northern Arizona University, School of Earth and Sustainability and Center for Adaptable Western Landscapes; and Nikki Cooley, Diné, Northern Arizona University, Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, 4 hours

Emerging management challenges and research priorities for southwestern pinyon-juniper woodlands

• Organizers: Molly McCormick, John Bradford, Seth Munson, U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center; Megan Swan and Jodi Norris, National Park Service, Southern Colorado Plateau Inventory & Monitoring Network; Catherine Gehring, Northern Arizona University, Center for Adaptable Western Landscapes, 4 hours

Demystifying climate adaptation planning: frameworks, partnerships, and case studies from diverse perspectives

• Organizers: Molly McCormick and Seth Munson, U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center; Clare Aslan, Northern Arizona University, Center for Adaptable Western Landscapes; Andi Thode, Northern Arizona University, School of Forestry, 2 hours

Visitor use management in an era of rapid change and dynamic futures

• Organizers: Zach Miller, National Park Service, Intermountain Regional Office Visitor Use, 2 hours

Leaves to Landscapes: Part I—Tamarisk and tamarisk beetle impacts: habitat and policy

Leaves to Landscapes: Part II—Evapotranspiration: spatial models of ET at the landscape level

• Organizers: Pamela Nagler, U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, and Matthew Johnson, Northern Arizona University, 4 hours

Using natural infrastructure as nature-based solutions to heal the planet

• Organizer: Laura M. Norman, U.S. Geological Survey, Western Geographic Science Center, 2 hours

Feeling the burn: the interacting effects of fire and warming in pinyon-juniper woodlands of the Southwest

• Organizers: Sasha Reed, Cara Lauria, Michala Phillips, Brooke Osborne, and John Bradford, U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center; Catherine Gehring and Gillian Trimber, Northern Arizona University. 2 hours

Climate change adaptation in the National Park Service

• Organizer: Joel Reynolds, National Park Service, Climate Change Response Program, 2 hours

Biodiversity counts: does long-term monitoring lead to effective conservation outcomes?

• Organizer: Helen Rowe, McDowell Sonoran Conservancy and Northern Arizona University, 2 hours

Southwest ecosystems in a new ecohydrological reality: carbon and water responses to drought and aridification

• Organizers: Kimberly Samuels-Crow, Emma Reich, Kiona Ogle, Northern Arizona University School of Informatics, Computing, & Cyber Systems, 2 hours

Bison, the national mammal, in the SouthWest

• Organizers: Miranda Terwilliger and Greg Holm, National Park Service, Grand Canyon National Park, 4 hours

Threats, research, and conservation of southwestern succulents: Agavaceae, Cactaceae, and Crassulaceae

• Organizers: Kathryn Thomas, U.S. Geological Survey Southwest Biological Science Center, and Julie Crawford, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4 hours

The Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology (ASIST) Project: advanced technologies to support integrated drought science

• Organizers: Kathryn Thomas, U.S. Geological Survey Southwest Biological Science Center, and Katharine Dahm, U.S. Geological Survey, Rocky Mountain. Regional Office, 2 hours