Call for Experts - IPBES

Our Ref: EM/2016/22

Dear IPBES Member States and Observers,

 Following the outcome of the fourth session of the Plenary (Decision IPBES-4/1, section III, para. 3, and section IV, para.5) and in line with the agreed procedures for the preparation of the Platform’s deliverables, Governments and other relevant stakeholders are invited to nominate experts to participate in:

1. the Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Deliverable 2c);
2. the workshop to further scope the thematic assessment of the Sustainable Use of Biodiversity (Deliverable 3biii).

In addition, following decision IPBES-4/1, section I, para.1, Governments and relevant institutions and organizations are invited to nominate fellows to:

3. the IPBES Fellowship Pilot Programme, to participate in the Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

The IPBES Fellowship Pilot Programme targets early career experts who wish to gain experience by participating in the work of IPBES. More information on the IPBES Fellowship Pilot Programme and nomination process can be found here.

Member States and Observers are invited to disseminate this call for nominations widely to relevant institutions and organisations. Nominations from a broad range of organizations/institutions are encouraged. Self-nominations will not be accepted. Nominators are expected to give their consent to the time commitment required from the candidate, as appropriate.

All nominated individuals (nominees) need to be available to attend the meeting to which they are applying to be experts.
Meeting dates:

• The First Author Meeting for the Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services will be held in August 15-19, 2016 in Bonn, Germany (Experts and Fellows);
• The scoping meeting for the thematic assessment of Sustainable Use of Biodiversity will be held August 2-4, 2016, Bonn, Germany (Scoping Experts).

Importantly, nominated experts should have expertise in one or more disciplines within natural science, social science or humanities, represent or have expertise in indigenous and local knowledge systems, or be policy experts and practitioners. We strongly encourage nominations to reflect this broad range of expertise which is needed for both assessments.

In particular, for the Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, we are seeking experts with an interdisciplinary, international and/or global background and experience. Governments and organisations nominating experts are therefore encouraged to promote this multidisciplinary approach, which is fundamental to the success of IPBES. For the scoping meeting for the thematic assessment of Sustainable Use of Biodiversity, we are seeking experts that have expertise in integrative approaches to human-nature relations, in ethics, trade, as well as in the relevant institutions and governance.

The nomination process of experts will follow these steps:

1. Nominees will be invited to fill out an application form and attach their curricula vitae through the dedicated web portal (http://www.ipbes.net/applicationform)
2. The application form will automatically be sent to the nominating Government or Organisation (Nominator) indicated by the Nominee with an email, which will provide a link to a nomination form inviting the Nominators to approve and submit their nominations.
3. Nominators and Nominees will  receive an acknowledgement message once the nomination form confirming the nomination has been submitted

Interested experts (nominees) are requested to fill out their application form no later than 05 May 2016. Nominators (governments or organisations) should submit approved applications by 15 May 2016 at the latest. Early nominations ahead of the deadline are encouraged. Experts interested in being nominated are encouraged to contact their IPBES National Focal Point (http://www.ipbes.net/about/members/nfps) or organisational contact point as they may be operating under their own timeline.

I look forward to your positive response to this letter and for your continued support towards the implementation of our work programme in 2016.

Yours sincerely,

This document has been signed electronically and contains no handwritten signature

Sir Robert T. Watson
Chair, Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Our mailing address is:
IPBES Secretariat

UN Campus

Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1

Bonn 53113

Germany

A trip of the past: the fossils talk to us about biogeography.

Insights of the PS3 Plenary Symposium Session on Saturday 10.01.2015

After a nice reception at the Botanical Garden which ended very late, the attendees congregated at the Auditorium of the University of Bayreuth next morning for the Plenary Symposium. During the session labelled: “Paleogeography: The importance of fossil data to species biogeography. Past, present and future”, the speakers Alicia Stigall, Thomas Servais, Wolfgang Kiessling, Thomas Denk, Andrea Sánchez and Catherine Badgley held presentations of a historical perspective of Biogeography.

To name some examples of the talks of this session, Stigall highlighted the difficulties of making biogeographical analyses with paleontological data. However, using an approach named Environmental niche modelling (ENM) is possible to incorporate into biogeographic inference the temporal, spatial, and environmental information provided by the fossil record, as a direct evidence of the extinct biodiversity fraction.

On the other hand, Andrea Sánchez explained some of the limitations of the fossil record: they represent a fraction of the living information of ancestral times, and therefore the biodiversity we see today is not representative of the historical one, especially after scenarios of high extinction. Her research team analysed the phylogenetic map of the Hypericum sp.  and they found out that it did not correspond with the fossil record.  They analysed the fossil data with a diversification–extinction–cladogenesis (DEC) model incorporating a model of the fossil reconstructions. As fossil record provides information of the location of the organisms, the climate as well as the ecological conditions of the environment of the previous times, dispersal patterns could be described. This allows to infer the past potential distribution and ecological corridors and barriers for dispersal.

Finally, Catherine Badgley explained a model of biotic responses to changes in earth history in terms of biogeographical processes. Specifically, tectonic changes and other environmental changes as change of sea level and climate change open and closes dispersal corridors for species. He explain three examples that portrait this scenario: in Miocene faunas of Pakistan and Spain, and in Quaternary faunas of South Africa. In these three examples of mammals’ biogeography, he concluded how the range of dispersal of these organisms was affected by climate change in accordance of the models applied.

by Yrneh Ulloa

Picture from: http://www.palaeontologicalsociety.co.za

Job Announcement - Tenure track position - University of Oxford

Lecturing position biogeography or biodiversity conservation science, Oxford University
Closing date 21st March at 12.00 GMT

Full time, tenure track position at University of Oxford, in School of Geography and the Environment

Post advertised at
http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_university/jobs/academic/index/ac14584j/

The main duties of the postholder will be to engage in research and produce high-quality publications of an international standard. Applications are welcome from all areas of physical geography but preference may be given to applicants with research expertise in biogeography or biodiversity conservation science and with a doctorate in geography or a closely related field. The successful candidate will teach, supervise and examine undergraduate and graduate students. The post is in association with St Peter’s College Oxford.

For activies and other staff members working in the Biodiversity, Ecosystems and Conservation research cluster, within the School,  see:
http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/research/biodiversity/

E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Symposium

Announcing the
E.O. WILSON BIODIVERSITY SYMPOSIUM
The University of Alabama | April 22-24, 2014
biodiversity.ua.edu

Join Dr. Edward O. Wilson and a panel of biodiversity experts for three days of briefings and stimulating dialog on the state and future of biodiversity on our planet.

SPEAKERS
Dr. E.O. Wilson, Harvard University
Dr. P. Dee Boersma, University of Washington
Dr. R. Scot Duncan, Birmingham-Southern College
Dr. Ryan Earley, University of Alabama
Dr. Scott V. Edwards, Harvard University
Dr. Harry W. Greene, Cornell University
Dr. Juan Lopez-Bautista, University of Alabama
Dr. Jonathan B. Losos, Harvard University
Dr. Meg Lowman, North Carolina State University
Dr. D. Bruce Means, Coastal Plains Institute and Land Conservancy & Florida State University
Dr. Michael B. A. Oldstone, The Scripps Research Institute
Dr. Richard Richards, University of Alabama
Dr. Leslie J. Rissler, University of Alabama
Dr. Sahotra Sarkar, University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Diana H. Wall, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory & Colorado State University

REGISTRATION is required. Seating is limited to 400!

MORE INFORMATION: biodiversity.ua.edu

Posting: Biodiversity Institute Director University of Wyoming

Biodiversity Institute Director University of Wyoming

www.uwyo.edu/acadaffairs/ad

Biodiversity Institute Description:

The newly founded University of Wyoming Biodiversity Institute is dedicated to world-class biodiversity research, education and training of graduate and undergraduate students, and dissemination of scholarship to support biodiversity conservation and management. We seek an energetic Director, hired at the rank of Full Professor, to develop this new program to its full potential as one of the world’s leading biodiversity enterprises. This Institute provides an outstanding opportunity for a visionary leader to coordinate the University’s resources in its internationally recognized programs in ecology, environmental sciences, and natural resource economics, and build an innovative interdisciplinary and collaborative program addressing multiple dimensions of the globally critical field of biodiversity research. While biodiversity sciences will anchor the Institute, human interactions with the natural environment are considered a critical focus of the Institute’s work. For more information about the University of Wyoming Biodiversity Institute please visit: www.uwyo.edu/acadaffairs/ad/biod.pdf.

Position Description:

The Director will establish the Institute’s curricula with opportunities for student research, field experiences and internships. The Director also will oversee outreach activities designed to serve the needs of the public and Wyoming state agencies and non-governmental organizations. The Biodiversity Institute will be housed in the University of Wyoming’s Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center: www.uwyo.edu/berrycenter.

The successful candidate will possess an internationally recognized reputation in biology, a passion for biodiversity, a commitment to the broadly inclusive mission of the Institute, proven leadership abilities, clear evidence of successful working relationships with faculty across disciplinary boundaries, and skills to represent the Institute effectively to state and national stakeholders and to the public.

Preferred qualifications include:

1. leadership experience demonstrating vision, managerial ability, and communication skills; 2. the ability to create synergy with other University programs and with stakeholders; 3. a commitment to integrating academics, research excellence, and the outreach mission of the
Institute; and 4. an internationally recognized record of teaching and research in biology, including a proven record
of external grant support.

Minimum qualifications include:

1. an earned doctorate; and 2. demonstrated excellence in research, teaching, and professional service commensurate with a
tenured appointment at the rank of Full Professor. We seek to fill this full-time, 9-month position starting 21 August 2012. Applications should include:
1. 2. 3.
a letter describing the applicant’s qualifications and experience related to the position; a curriculum vitae; and names and addresses of three references.

Review of applications will begin on April 30, 2012, but applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Please email all application materials as pdf attachments to Ms. Wilma Varga (wilmav@uwyo.edu) and reference the position number (#4916). Inquiries about the position can be made to Dr. David G. Williams (dgw@uwyo.edu).

The University of Wyoming is committed to diversity and endorses principles of affirmative action. We acknowledge that diversity enriches and sustains our scholarship and promotes equal access to our educational mission. We seek and welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.