Ocean, Freshwater, Forests, Health and other Symposia at the Biodiversity Conference

THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT invites you to participate in the 9th National Conference on Science, Policy, and the Environment: Biodiversity in a Rapidly Changing World, to address the challenge the changing world poses to biodiversity (and to humanity).

Explore Critical Biodiversity Topics! Featured Symposia:

On the second day of the conference (Tuesday, December 9) twelve concurrent symposia will explore in detail key biodiversity issues and critical ecosystem types. Presentations by between leading experts will lead into interactive and dynamic Q&A sessions, giving all participants the chance to contribute to these critical conversations.

Highlighted Symposium: How Health Depends on Nature
This session will explore among other issues: the ways in which complex interactions in ecological communities influence risk of exposure to zoonotic diseases; the contribution of ecosystem services to human health; the value of biodiversity to the search for new medicines and therapies; and the role of the Earth’s animals, plants, and microbes in understanding human physiology, disease, and dysfunction and in preventing and treating disease and dysfunction. Session Chair: Mary Gant, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIHModerator: Eric Chivian, Director, Center for Health & the Global Environment, Harvard University Discussants: Richard Ostfeld, Senior Scientist and Animal Ecologist, Institute of Ecosystem Studies David Newman, Chief, Natural Products Branch, National Cancer Institute, NIHJoshua Rosenthal, Deputy Director, International Training & Research, Fogarty International Center, NIH

Full Symposia List:
Ocean Biodiversity: Chair: Nathalie Valette-Silver, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Discussants: Patricia Miloslavich, Universidad Simon Bolivar, Venezuela; Nancy Knowlton, Smithsonian Institution and Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Emmett Duffy, Virginia Insitute of Marine Sciences; David Newman, National Cancer Institute

Communicating About Biodiversity with Cutting Edge Approaches: Chair and Moderator: Jane Elder, Jane Elder Strategies and Forum on Nature and Democracy, Discussants: Carol Saunders, Antioch College; Eleanor Sterling, American Museum of Natural History; Lisa Wise, Center for New American Dream.

How Health Depends on Nature: Chair: Mary Gant, National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Moderator: Eric Chivian, Director, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard University; Richard Ostfeld, Senior Scientist/Animal Ecologist, Institute of Ecosystem Studies; David Newman, Chief, Natural Products Branch, Natural Cancer Institute (NIH); Joshua Rosenthal, Deputy Director, International Training & Research, Fogarty International Center, NIH

Forests for Tomorrow: NCSSF Science and Policy: Chair: Joyce Berry, Vice President for Advancement and Strategic Initiatives, Colorado State University; John Gordon, former Dean Yale School of Forestry; Jim Brown, former Oregon State Forester; Al Sample, President, Pinchot Institute for Conservation; Ann Bartuska, Deputy Chief, USFS Research and Development

Funding for Biodiversity Conservation: Chair: Peter Saundry, National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE), Moderator: Michael Fischer, Executive Director, Consultative Group on Biological Diversity; Discussants: Kenneth Wilson, Executive Director, The Christensen Fund; Rosa Lemos de Sa, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; Jeff Lerner, The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; Christopher Holtz, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Adrian Forsyth, Blue Moon Foundation

Can Climate Policies Help Save the Biodiversity of Tropical Forests?: Chair: Peter Frumhoff, Union of Concerned Scientists, Discussants: Sandra Brown, Winrock International; Tom Lovejoy, Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment; Geoffrey Heal, Columbia University

Political, Economic, and Ethical Contexts of Biodiversity Conservation: Chair: Paul Heltne, Center for Humans and Nature; George Rabb, President Emeritus, Chicago Zoological Society and activist in the formation of the Amphibian Survival Alliance; Peter G. Brown, Ph. D., Professor, School of the Environment, McGill University, author of "The Commonwealth of Life: Economics for a Flourishing Earth"; J. Ron Engel, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Meadville Lombard Seminary and University of Chicago Divinity School

Human Dominated Landscapes: Chair: Adina Merenlender, University of California, and Jodi Hilty, Wildlife Conservation Society; Discussants: Devra Jarvis, Ph.D., Agricultural Ecosystems, Biodiversity International; Nancy Bockstael, Ph.D., Land Economics, University of Maryland; Alex Beehler, Assistant Deputy Undersecretary for Environment, Safety, and Occupational Health, Department of Defense

Freshwater Ecosystems: Chair: Michael Smith, Conservation International; Discussants: Neil Cumberlidge, Northern Michigan University; Larry Gorenflo, Pennsylvania State University; Larry Page, Florida Museum of Natural History; Cathy Reidy Liermann, University of Washington

Agriculture:from Genes to Landscapes: TBD

Bio-prospecting, Bio-mimicry, and Bio-products: Chair: Andy Jorgensen, National Council for Science and the Environment, Moderator: Anthony Michaels, Managing Partner, Proteus Environmental Technologies; Discussants: Steven King, Vice President of Sustainable Supply and Ethnobotanical Research, Naop Pharmaceuticals; Lyle Glowka, Senior Legal Advisor, Convention on Biodiversity

Exploring Earth's Species, Writing the Encyclopedia of Life: Chair: Quentin Wheeler , International Institute for Species Exploration, Arizona State University; James L. Edwards, Executive Director, Encyclopedia of Life, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution; Discussants: Marie Studer, Education and Outreach Group, Encyclopedia of Life, Harvard University; Tom Garnett, Executive Director, Biodiversity Heritage Library, Smithsonian Institution; Norman Platnick, American Museum of Natural History, New York; Dennis Stevenson, Vice President, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx

Visit the website to register and view the conference agenda, speaker bios, and important information on travel and lodging. Learn about our Biodiversity Partners Exhibition, Poster Session, Youth Video Contest, and many other opportunities for participation!
Register Today! Questions? Call 202.530.5810 or email conference@ncseonline.org

Join Us In Setting a New Agenda for the Biodiversity Issue

You will have the opportunity to participate in one of over 30 concurrent breakout sessions that will convene on the afternoon of Monday, December 8th to develop a set of recommendations that can guide a new US Administration and others working around the world to conserve biodiversity. This biodiversity agenda will be presented to the next Administration, Congress, and decisionmakers in academia, local and state government, business and in international forums to encourage awareness of and solutions to the challenge of conserving biodiversity in the face of climate change, population growth, globalization, and other rapid changes.

Topics covered will include:
Special Regions, Ecosystems, and Taxonomic Groups: Amphibians, Endangered and Conservation Relient Species, Microbial Diversity, the Arctic, Africa, Freshwater and Marine Environments

Landscapes: Developing (frontiers to metropolis) and Protected Areas, Agricultural Landscapes

Putting Biodiversity on the Political Agenda and Exploring Conservation Policy and Law

Role of States in Conservation

Scaling Biodiversity and Developing Metrics for Prioritizing

Mobilizing the Public and Communicating Biodiversity

Integrating Cultural Diversity and Biological Diversity

Conservation Leadership and Partnerships

Mitigating the Drivers of Biodiversity Loss such as: Population Growth, Energy and Consumption, Invasive Species, Climate Change

Living Institutions and Natural History Collections

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Ecosystem Services, Ecosystem Restoration

Making Biological Information Usable

Biodiversity in Education Wildlife Adaptation.

View the Full List of Breakout Sessions

Help the Obama Adminstration Develop A Biodiversity Strategy

The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) congratulates President-elect Barack Obama and all of the victorious candidates for national, state and local office and thanks all candidates and voters for their roles in exercising and advancing democracy in America. We invite you to join us in developing recommendations for the Obama Administrration and the new Congress during the National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment: Biodiversity in a Rapidly Changing World December 8-10 in Washington, DC.

The conference will occur during the critical time of transition to the new Administration. We will prepare recommendations for biodiversity science and its application to policy in 30 breakout sessions. Topics include bioenergy, endangered species, invasive species, protected areas, coral reefs, agriculture, research, education and many more. We will present these recommendations to the incoming Administration and Congress.

Former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt will moderate a roundtable including members of the Obama transition teams, key agencies and members of the new Congress (invited) to discuss how biodiversity fits within the agenda of the Obama Administration. The conference will feature high level participation from key agencies including the USDA Forest Service, US Geological Survey, US Department of the Interior and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

We invite you to participate in the first NCSE Science and Environment Congressional Visit Day, which will conclude the conference on Wednesday December 10. The Defenders of Wildlife, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) will provide a workshop and organize visits for attendees. The Congressional Visit Day provides a unique opportunity for your insights, perspectives and the work that you do in an academic and non-political setting to become the basis for sound, science-based policy development. You’ll learn communication techniques and make important connections that will enable you to continue to play a role in policy development during the Obama Administration.

Award Winning Author - Thomas Friedman - To Keynote

Thomas Friedman- Keynote Speaker at NCSE's National Conference

Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist and Pulitzer prize winning author, will provide the keynote address on December 9th at NCSE's national conference Biodiversity in a Rapidly Changing World . Following his #1 best seller, The World is Flat, Friedman's new book Hot, Flat, and Crowded, brings a fresh outlook to the crises of destabilizing climate change, rising competition for energy, and its impact on biodiversity and humanity. The conference will be held December 8-10, 2008 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC.

Please join us to hear Tom Friedman at at 9am on Tuesday, December 9th. He will be signing copies of his new book following his presentation. After the keynote address, you have the opportunity to attend one of 12 concurrent symposia exploring critical topics as ocean biodiversity and human dominated landscapes. In the afternoon plenary, panels of leading policymakers, scientists and conservationists will discuss the new agenda for biodiversity science and conservation developed the previous afternoon and consider opportunities in the Obama administration and new Congress for advancing this agenda. Friedman joined The New York Times in 1981 as a financial reporter specializing in OPEC- and oil-related news and later served as the chief diplomatic, chief White House, and international economics correspondents. Friedman has reported on the Middle East conflict, the end of the cold war, U.S. domestic politics and foreign policy, international economics, and the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat. Friedman currently writes a syndicated column for the New York Times on related issues. Friedman has written several books including From Beirut to Jerusalem (FSG, 1989), The Lexus and the Olive Tree (FSG, 1999), The World Is Flat (FSG, 2005), and Hot, Flat, and Crowded (FSG, 2008).

You will also have the opportunity at the conference to listen to leading scientists including:Cristian Samper, Director, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution Eric Chivian, Director, Center for Health and the Global EnvironmentEdward O. Wilson, Professor Emeritus, Harvard University Peter Raven, Director, Missouri Botanical Garden George Rabb, President Emeritus, Chicago Zoological SocietyHarold Mooney, Stanford University William Sutherland,, University of CambridgeRita Colwell, former Director of the National Science FoundationSir Peter Crane, Professor, University of ChicagoThomas Lovejoy, President, The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment

REGISTRATION DETAILS
Register Today! Questions? Call 202.530.5810 or email conference@ncseonline.org
Reduced Nonprofit Rate! If your organization has 501(c)3 status you qualify for our reduced registration rate ($295- 3day). Email conference@ncseonline.org for the registration code. Registration Codes will be required to register:Individual attendee code: INDIVIDUAL ($395- 3day; $200- single day)Full-time Student code: STUDENT ($220- 3day; $110- single day)


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