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"We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late… We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is deaf to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: 'Too late.'"
- Martin Luther King, Jr. |
RECENT NEWS
- Forest Genetics 2013 conference will take place in Whistler, B.C. in July, 2013.
- I have begun working with the AdapTree project, based at UBC.
- My research was featured in a recent Alberta Innovates newsletter:
"U of A PhD student looks to the ice age to predict the future of forests"
My research:
I am currently studying the effects of climate change on forest ecosystems: past, present, and future. Over the last two million years, the evolution of North American tree species, subspecies, and genetic varieties has taken place in a constantly changing landscape often dominated by extensive ice sheets and restricted temperate climate environments.
I employ species distribution models (ecological niche models) to reconstruct past and project future tree species distributions throughout western North America, using patterns of past species distribution and migrations to inform conservation and management expectations under climate change scenarios.
The first objective of my PhD research is to develop effective methods for species range reconstructions and projections. The second objective is to use these models to investigate how modern genetic diversity and genetic structure was shaped by refugial history. I also use climate habitat comparisons to estimate past and future required migration (or gene flow) rates for western North American trees.
I employ species distribution models (ecological niche models) to reconstruct past and project future tree species distributions throughout western North America, using patterns of past species distribution and migrations to inform conservation and management expectations under climate change scenarios.
The first objective of my PhD research is to develop effective methods for species range reconstructions and projections. The second objective is to use these models to investigate how modern genetic diversity and genetic structure was shaped by refugial history. I also use climate habitat comparisons to estimate past and future required migration (or gene flow) rates for western North American trees.
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David Roberts
751 General Services Building University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta Canada, T6G 2H1 |