Understanding and Conserving Freshwater Ecosystems in Diverse Landscapes

The Karsh International Scholars invite you to their Speaker's Event - "Understanding and conserving freshwater ecosystems in diverse landscapes: Lessons from tropical rivers in East Africa, Central America, and the Andean Amazon"Dr. Elizabeth AndersonDepartment of Earth and EnvironmentFlorida International UniversityMiami, FLAbstract:Freshwater ecosystems, such as rivers, lakes, and wetlands, harbor extraordinary biodiversity even though they cover very little of the Earth¿s surface and contain a only very small fraction of the world¿s freshwater. At the same time, freshwater ecosystems and their biota are among the most threatened globally. Tropical rivers are being altered at an increasingly rapid rate. This seminar will present three cases from East Africa, Central America, and the Andean Amazon of efforts to simultaneously improve understanding of tropical rivers and work towards their conservation in the face of ongoing changes. About the Speaker: Elizabeth Anderson is a conservation ecologist based in the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University. Her professional work explores the natural history of tropical freshwaters of Central America, the Andean Amazon, and East Africa, and the effects of alterations of these ecosystems.