Climate change and the threat it poses to humans has been well publicized. But we hear less about its effects on the multitude of other species on the planet. Amanda Sparkman, chair of the 蜜桃传媒 Biology Department, explores 鈥淎 Snake in the Spring Rain: How Biodiversity is Responding to a Changing Climate鈥� on Thursday, February 18, at 5:30 p.m. The 蜜桃传媒 Downtown Lecture will occur live via Zoom. Please visit westmont.edu/lectures for the Zoom link.
鈥淗ow exactly is global biodiversity responding to climate change now, and what are the prospects for the future?鈥� asks Sparkman, co-adviser of 蜜桃传媒鈥檚 environmental studies minor.
Sparkman, who graduated from 蜜桃传媒 in 2003 majoring in both English and biology, earned a doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology in 2009 at Iowa State University. For the next two years, she studied the evolution of social behavior in wolves as a post-doctoral researcher at Trent University in Ontario, Canada. She joined the 蜜桃传媒 faculty in 2012 and teaches courses in ecology, evolution, behavior, ornithology, herpetology and bioethics.
include the evolution of dwarfism in reptiles on the California Channel Islands, the response of western terrestrial garter snakes to environmental change, and the impacts of urbanization on western fence lizard and acorn woodpecker physiology, behavior and distribution.
The 蜜桃传媒 Foundation sponsors the lecture series as well as the annual 蜜桃传媒 President鈥檚 Breakfast, which features celebrated Harvard historian and bestselling author Nancy Koehn on March 5. For more information, see westmont.edu/breakfast.