Thomas Sisk, Conservation Biologist
Posted on behalf of Green College
Thomas Sisk, our very first Cecil H. and Ida Green Visiting Professor of the year, will be giving his opening lecture tomorrow (Sept.28)!
About the lecture
“Science and Civic Engagement:
Crossing Scales and Jurisdictions for Biodiversity Conservation.”
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Time: 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. Tuesday Sept. 28, 2010
Place: The Liu Institute for Global Issues
Abstract: Science has great potential to inform and engage the public in a manner that facilitates and elevates deliberative approaches to environmental management. Too often, however, its role in policy development is limited to either supporting or undermining established policy positions, further marginalizing nontechnical participants from the decision process. Meaningful engagement of the public in environmental policy and management can be facilitated by participatory science that brings diverse values and perspectives into focus and empowers the deeper involvement of knowledgeable nonscientists.
Drawing on ecological research conducted within a frame of collaborative approaches to public lands management, Thomas Sisk will discuss the emerging role of environmental science in shaping the context for policy deliberations and explore how this relates to its more traditional role of information provider.
Examples from bold forest and rangeland conservation efforts spanning over a million ha of the Grand Canyon region, USA, illustrate how scientific engagement might move beyond expert opinion and toward a more inclusive approach, where science empowers democratic processes for resolving contested public policy and guiding management of commonly held lands and resources.
About the speaker
Tom Sisk is a conservation biologist working at the interface of environmental science and policy. His practice combines landscape analysis with collaborative approaches to the management of public land and natural resources.
By developing participatory approaches that incorporate diverse constituencies into both science and planning, he and his colleagues are pioneering new approaches to the conservation and management of the commons. Tom’s scholarship is interdisciplinary, ranging from primary research in ecology, including the population biology of birds and butterflies, to the application of spatial analysis in fostering civic engagement in policy development (see the Featured CIGVP page for full bio).
He is a fellow of the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program and a Cecil H. and Ida Green Visiting Professor at UBC over the 2010/11 academic year, where he is affiliated with Green College and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability.
An invitation!
After the lecture, Green College is hosting a reception for Tom in the Green College Piano Lounge.
If you attend either the lecture beforehand or the fireside chat (in Green College’s Graham House at 8 p.m.), you’re also invited to the reception… at which, we should mention, there will be ample food and drink.
