EVENTS

Webinar Details:

Title:

Invasive Species Threaten the Success of Climate Change Adaptation Efforts

Webinar Summary:

This webinar discusses a new white paper for the U.S. federal government that offers a blueprint for transforming how invasive species are considered within US climate change planning and processes.

Webinar Description:

In 2023, members of the U.S. Invasive Species Advisory Committee produced a new white paper for the federal government that sheds new light on the critical intersection between climate change and invasive species, specifically focusing on the implications for U.S. federal climate adaptation planning and policy. Invasive species are already a major barrier to the successful implementation of climate adaptation and mitigation plans: for example, they are currently hindering the natural environment’s ability to sequester carbon emissions and protect communities from the increased threats of climate-amplified weather events such as wildfire and storm surges. After reviewing 26 Climate Change Adaptation Plans from federal agencies, the committee identified policy gaps and opportunities, and developed five key recommendations that emphasize the need to explicitly incorporate invasive species into national climate adaptation guidance. This webinar will highlight strategic insights from the paper into how managing and preventing invasive species impacts are integral to achieving U.S. federal climate adaptation goals, using examples from the U.S. Pacific Islands and beyond to advocate for increased support for relevant research networks and programs, integrated invasive species science into international treaties, climate-informed early detection and rapid response, and investments in long-term management strategies.

Speaker details:

Leigh Greenwood: is the Forest Pest and Pathogen Program Director for the Natural Climate Solutions Program within The Nature Conservancy’s  North America Region. Leigh’s work focuses on bringing multiple stakeholders together to achieve common goals in Forest Health, including: managing the Don’t Move Firewood campaign, convening the Continental Dialogue on Non-native Forest Insects and Diseases, working to improve the international biosecurity measures in place for solid wood packaging, and leading the Tree Improvement Project. Leigh earned her B.A. in Biology at Williams College and her M.S. in Wildlife Biology at the University of Montana in Missoula, where she studied the intersection of native wildlife and invasive plants… in a lab about two doors down from where Elliott was earning his PhD.

Dr. Laura Brewington: As Co-Director of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Adaptation Partnership for the U.S. Pacific Islands region, Pacific RISA, Laura Brewington works in thematic areas of climate adaptation science, invasive species, natural climate solutions, coastal resilience, and climate early warning systems. Her responsibilities include advancing transformative adaptation and resilience-building initiatives by working with governments, institutions, decision makers, natural resource managers, and communities across the Pacific Islands. She has a joint appointment as a Research Professor at Arizona State University’s Global Futures Lab and a Research Fellow at the East-West Center, and is based in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi.