Complex Systems: 'Constructing subsistence use areas from survey data: On the intersection of social and environmental sciences' - April 4, 2014

Friday, April 4, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. ConocoPhilips Integrated Science Building, Room 105A

Diwakar Vadapalli, assistant professor and James Shewmake Research Professional at the Institute of Social and Economic Research, will present "Constructing subsistence use areas from survey data: On the intersection of social and environmental sciences."

Abstract: The Rapid Ecoregional Assessments are large landscape-level assessments of the current and future impacts of various change agents on several conservation elements. These assessments involve complex interactions of multiple agents of change (e.g., fire, climate change, development) and their combined impacts on several species of importance (e.g., caribou) for the ecoregions. Subsistence is an important part of the life in rural Alaska and forms a major component of local economies across the state.

Subsistence also has a direct impact on the landscape, and heavily depends on the quality of the landscape and its ability to sustain diverse subsistence resources. Vadapalli will discuss our attempts to compile subsistence use areas from data collected by Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and assess the relationship between habitat, migration patterns of caribou and hunting patterns.

Upcoming "Complex Systems" talks for spring 2014: April 11: Eric Somerville, Computer Science and Engineering Department, presents "How complex is it to build a Yup'ik language spellchecker?"

April Archive