Confluence of a pandemic with climate change and the results of deforestation

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Forest fires, climate change, and deforestation in the Amazonregion: real time monitoring of air quality and respiratory health during the pandemic

In this talk Prof. Foster Brown, will address the confluence of a pandemic with climate change and the results of deforestation, with his perspective of scientist from the Amazon Region. He will explore his role as part of COVID-19 Response Committee of the Federal University and the interactions with M.Ds. who are in the forefront of treating the pandemic in Acre. Then, Dr. Brown will present the successful collaboration they set with the Public Health Ministry of Acre to use the Internet-of-Things to expand a network of inexpensive air quality sensors that have proven to be very useful to document the extension and human exposure to high levels of smoke. He will also present some examples of the analysis of near real-time imagery of fires and deforestation in the region. Finally, the talk will focus on what we can do and the role of science and education to tackle this multi-hazard crisis.

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The SciTalk will be followed by a panel discussion with experts in science and policy:

 

Foster Brown, Ph.D., is an environmental geochemist who strives to connect the ecological and social dimensions of environmental issues. His research focuses on global environmental change and sustainable development in the southwestern Amazon Basin. He coordinates Woodwell Climate’s work dealing with climate change and land use in the tri-national southwestern Amazonia region. He is currently involved in monitoring air quality impacts of deforestation-fueled fires, and has taken an active role in pandemic response in his community.

Dr. Brown spent over twenty years as a faculty member of the Graduate Program in Environmental Geochemistry at the Federal Fluminense University in Niteroi, Brazil.

 

Reynaldo Victoria, Ph.D., is an Agronomy Engineer from University of São Paulo with experience in Ecology, focusing on Ecosystems Ecology.

Topics: nitrogen, isotopes, amazonia, and carbono. 

 

 

 

Carlos Joly, PhD., is a Full Professor of Plant Ecology at the Department of Plant Biology of the State University of Campinas/UNICAMP, fellow of the Brazilian Academy of Science, Chair of the Brazilian Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services/BPBES. 
Holds a BSc in Biological Science (USP 1976), a MSc in Plant Biology (UNICAMP1979) and a PhD in Botany (Univ.St. Andrews/UK 1982). Published over 110 papers, edited 12 books, supervised 27 MScs and 29 PhDs. 
As the main mentor of the BIOTA-FAPESP Program (www.biota.org.br), he was in charge of planning, designing and implementing it from 1996 to 2004, having been reappointed Chairman of the Program since 2007.
 At UNICAMP he has been the chair of 3 graduate programs (Ecology, Plant Biology and Environment and Society), twice Head of the Plant Biology Department (1987/89; 2006/10) and Dean of the Graduate School (1996/98). His experience in government includes the State of São Paulo Secretary of Environment (1995) and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (2011/2012). 
Due to his achievements he received the Henry Ford Prize twice (1999 and 2009), the Scientific Merit Medal awarded by the Brazilian government (2002) and the Muriqui Prize awarded by the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve (2012). 

 

 

 

The IAI SciTalk was made possible in collaboration with: