Zoom Event: The Effect of Fire on California Birds

Thursday, February 23, 2023 - 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM

This event has passed. Check out the Event Calendar for upcoming events.

Join Morgan Tingley, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA for discussion.

Fire is a critical and natural part of California’s ecosystems, but the nature of fire here is rapidly shifting due to climate change. From a biological perspective, fire is a regular disturbance that affects the distribution and abundance of species and has shaped evolution for millions of years. Nevertheless, we are entering an unprecedented period where the dominant nature of fire is rapidly changing, disrupting both human and animal lives. In this lecture, Professor Morgan Tingley will discuss the myriad ways that fire has shaped the ecology of animals – particularly birds – in California and how the shifting nature of fire here is impacting our biodiversity. By learning how species are currently responding to a rapidly changing world, we are offered a glimpse into what our increasingly flammable future will hold.

Morgan Tingley joined the faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2020, after previously serving as an Assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut and as a David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellow at Princeton University. He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to this, he received a B.A. from Harvard University and an M.Sc. from Oxford University. He is a recipient of the “Wings across the Americas” conservation award from the U.S. Forest Service and the Young Professional Award from the Cooper Ornithological Society. His more than 80 research papers have been covered widely by the popular press, including features by The New York TimesLA TimesAudubon Magazine, and Washington Post.

If you want to join the Zoom meeting and see/hear this presentation — sign up by entering your information below and you will receive a link prior to the event. (If you’ve signed up for a previous Zoom event, no need — you’re already on our list!)