(Un)precedented Ecologies: ‘Nature’ in the Age of the Anthropause (Panel Discussion)
- Ian Rotherham, Sheffield Hallam University
- Amanda Zellmer, Occidental College Los Angeles
- Jonathon Turnbull, University of Cambridge
- Adam Searle, University of Cambridge
Ian Rotherham
Ian D. Rotherham is Professor of Environmental Geography and Reader in Tourism & Environmental Change in the Department of the Natural & Built Environment, Sheffield Hallam University. An ecologist, landscape historian, and invasion biologist, he has written extensively on issues of native and non-native species including matters of human cultural interactions with ecology. He has worked for many years on paradigms of rewilding and futurescapes and on so-called ‘recombinant’ ecologies where ecological fusion is driving the development of hybrid ecologies of native and exotic species, and even of novel species. Importantly in terms of the development of these ideas, he argues that landscape history and ecological history confirm that British ecologies have been hybrid for over two thousand years and reflect the emergence of the Anthropocene. Today the pace of change is accelerating and whilst some changes are inevitable, future conservation management may need to both reflect and respond to this changing ecological palette.
Amanda Zellmer
Amanda Zellmer’s research focuses on the utility and development of computational methods for studying spatial ecological and evolutionary processes, particularly in the context of conservation biology. This research includes the application of Species Distribution Modelling, Connectivity Modelling, and Community Science for assessing the impacts of human-mediated environmental changes, such as urbanization and global climate change. Her work is primarily focused on amphibians, although also includes many other types of organisms such as terrestrial mammals, carnivorous pitcher plants, rocky reef fish and invertebrates, and birds.
Jonathon Turnbull
Jonny is a cultural and environmental geographer at the University of Cambridge. His research explores the human–animal relations and weird ecologies of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone; dogs and wolves in particular. He is currently working on a number of collaborative projects concerning nature and lockdown; specifically how people engage with gardens and local green spaces, and the various ways in which nature is mediated digitally. He also writes on bovine geographies; specifically the urban ecologies of India's sacred cattle.
Adam Searle
Adam Searle is a cultural and environmental geographer whose research addresses the relationships between humans, other animals, and technologies from gene-editing to digitalisation. He is currently working on a collaborative project with Jonathon Turnbull, Bill Adams, and Jamie Lorimer, broadly exploring the more-than-human geographies of lockdown life.
18:00 Thursday 18 February
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/92430028006?pwd=Z3JBN3ZMMFZLbGJndVpXak5DQzFyQT09
Meeting ID: 924 3002 8006
Passcode: 695968
