February- Lecture Series, Dr. Stephen Gosnell, Bridges from the Ivory Tower

Conservation Lecture Series Thursday, February 13, 2014 -7 p.m.  FSUCML Auditorium Bridges from the Ivory Tower:  Merging Science and Management In Tropical Forests, Oyster Reefs, and the Gulf of Mexico  Climate change.  Biodiversity loss. A growing human population.  These and other pressing environmental challenges demonstrate why we need to build better connections between ongoing research and management questions.  In my talk I'll share a few vignettes from my past work on how science can inform management strategies.  I'll also discuss how focusing on management issues can lead to unique scientific insights and how science must account for human impacts in considering management outcomes.    While scientists tend to focus on specific topics or fields, the questions of how the environment responds to anthropogenic and natural pressures and what it means to humans that rely on natural resources requires a broader perspective.  Making these connections is both one of the largest challenges currently facing scientists and one of the most exciting areas of current research. Scientists are also becoming increasingly aware that focusing on managed populations or conservation topics can offer unique insight on how natural communities are structured and how they may respond to future changes.  They are also building the tools that better our ability to predict and manage these responses.  Dr. Gosnell will discuss past work connecting science and management and tools that support this work, focusing on case studies from tropical forests, reintroductions, and management of fished populations. He will also discuss ongoing work related to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and bettering our response to future spills.   Bio: Dr. Stephen Gosnell  Post-doctoral Research Associate  FSUCML Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology  A native of South Carolina, Dr. Gosnell completed his PhD at theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara, and a postdoctoral position at the UCSB Marine Science Institute before returning to the southeast to work as a postdoctoral researcher at the Coastal and Marine Laboratory.   His work focuses on understanding the causes and consequences of ecological diversity using field, lab, and quantitative approaches, and he is especially interested in connecting research to efforts to better manage natural resources.  These interests have allowed him to work in multiple areas, and past projects have included understanding factors that drive reintroduction outcomes, analyzing how predators impact prey through fear, and assessing functional diversity in tropical forests and kelp communities.  In his current position he focuses on determining impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and aiding aquaculture efforts in the Big Bend region through research on oyster reef communities.

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