EVENTS

Webinar Details:

Title: Continued spread of novel invasive species in the Pacific and increased risks from ecological emergencies to biosecurity implementation

Webinar Description:

The islands of the Pacific region are at risk from invasive species from many sources. Awareness of invasive species has always been extremely high in the region, but often focused on specific “banner” species where clear links to ecological or economic impacts are clear and easy to understand and communicate. Understanding the risks from novel invasive species is relatively new and thinking about invasive species during and after ecological emergencies is becoming more prominent. Here we will review some of the various novel invasives, their potential impacts, and some outcomes from our work on biosecurity within controlled settings and the risks of invasives. Then we will discuss the critical challenges that develop when trying to maintain these protocols during these ecological emergencies, when invasive spread risk could be greatest.

Speaker details:

Robert Fisher is a Supervisory Research Ecologist with the Western Ecological Research Center of the USGS based in San Diego, California. His work integrates conservation planning and implementation in southern California with the landscape of the Pacific Basin. Through various routes, these two landscapes are connected by invasive species and their ecological and economic impacts. He has worked for USGS since 1998 after a post doc at UC San Diego and receiving his Ph.D. from UC Davis. He runs a research lab that historically had about 30-35 staff to implement the various projects, including work on ecological emergencies and species recovery.