Wednesday, February 11 – Thursday, February 12, 2009
8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
American Association for the Advancement of Sciences
1200 New York Avenue, NW, Auditorium
Washington, DC 20005

Opening Reception: February 10, 2009
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Marian Koshland Science Museum
6^th & E Streets, NW
Washington, DC 20001

View the Webcasts on Google Video:
Biodiversity and the Public Good
Part 1, Part 2

Trade, Pests and Pathogens in the 21^st Century
Part 1, Part 2

Climate Change, Energy and 21^st Century Ecosystems
Part 1, Part 2

Food, Agriculture, and 21^st Century Ecosystems
View Session

Biodiversity: International institutions, science and policy
View Session

Organized by the U.S. National Committee for DIVERSITAS

The National Academy of Sciences, the Board on International Scientific Organizations, and the NAS U.S. National Committee for DIVERSITAS are pleased to announce a symposium in honor of the 200th Anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. The symposium will focus attention on both the opportunities for designing policies that strengthen and make use of biodiversity and ecosystem services and the dangers of pursuing policies that put ecosystems at risk. Speakers will discuss the importance of biodiversity and ecosystems to the public good, and examine the intersection of biodiversity and ecosystem services with key policy issues including climate change and energy; trade, pests and pathogens; and food security. The Organizing Committee will prepare an NAS Workshop Report on symposium presentations and discussions, focusing on the relations between Ecosystems, Biodiversity, and their relevance to critical policy issues in a globalizing world.

Organizing Committee Members
Professor Peter Crane, Chair
Professor Ann Kinzig
Dr. Thomas Lovejoy
Professor Harold Mooney
Professor Charles Perrings 

8.30-8:35 Welcome and Introduction
Sir Peter Crane John and Marion Sullivan University Professor, University of Chicago; Chair, U.S. National Committee for DIVERSITAS, NAS

Introductory Comments

8:35-8:45 Biodiversity, Ecosystems and the Global Decision Making
Harold Mooney Paul S. Achilles Professor of Environmental Biology, Stanford University; Chair, DIVERSITAS Science Committee

8:45 -9:00 Reflections on biodiversity and its future
Peter Raven Director, Missouri Botanical Garden

9:00-9:20 Biodiversity and global environmental change
Achim Steiner Director, UNEP [via prerecorded video]

SESSION 1 – Biodiversity and the Public Good

9:20-9:40 Charles Darwin meets the biodiversity crisis: Advice for the new Administration
Michael Donoghue Vice President and G. Evelyn Hutchinson Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University

9:40-10:00 Don't touch those dials! Microbes made this planet habitable for you
Paul Falkowski Board of Governors' Professor of Marine and Geological Sciences, Rutgers

10:00-10:20 Biodiversity implications of rapid evolution
Andrew Hendry Associate Professor of Biology, McGill University

10:20-10:35 Questions/Discussion

10:35-10:50 Coffee Break

10:50-11:10 Bioinformatics: inputs for the sustainable management of natural capital
José Sarukhán Institute of Ecology, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico

11:10-11:30 Darwin's Fishes: Why we should care about Marine Biodiversity?
Mary Glackin Deputy Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere

11:30-11:50 Valuing Nature: Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity
Steve Polasky Fesler-Lampert Professor of Ecological/Environmental Economics, University of Minnesota

11:50-12:05 Questions/Discussion

12:05-12:35 Concluding remarks on the morning session
Cristián Samper Director, National Museum for Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

12:35-2:00 Lunch

SESSION 2 – Trade, pests and pathogens in the 21^st Century

Chair for Session 2 – Justin Ward Vice President for Business Practices, Conservation International Center for Environmental Leadership in Business

2:00-2:20 Trade and Invasive Species: A Global Perspective 
Charles Perrings Professor of Environmental Economics, Arizona State University

2:20-2:40 Trade and the Spread of Animal and Human Pathogens 
Ann Marie Kimball Professor of Epidemiology and Health Services, University of Washington and Director, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Emerging Infections Network

2:40-3:00 Risks of Invasive Species from International Trade  Chris Costello Associate Professor, Resource Economics, UC Santa Barbara

3:00-3:15  Questions/Discussion

3:15-3:35  Coffee break

3:35-3:55 Control of invasives in forests 
Ann Bartuska Deputy Chief, US Forest Service Research and Development

3:55-4:15 Risk assessment and risk management of aquatic invasive species 
David Lodge Professor of Biology, University of Notre Dame

4:15-4:35 Trading blows: can we control invasive species through trade agreements?  
Mark Lonsdale Chief of CSIRO Entomology, Canberra, Australia

4:35-4:55 Questions/Discussion

4:55-5:25 The Color of Green: the Next Inconvenient Truth
Jerome Ringo President, the Apollo Alliance

7:00 Speakers Dinner

SESSION 3 - Climate Change, Energy and 21^st Century Ecosystems

8:30-8:40 Welcome and Introductions
Ann Kinzig Associate Professor of Life Sciences, Arizona State University

SESSION 3 - Climate Change, Energy and 21^st Century Ecosystems

8:40-9:00 Preserving Biodiversity: Any Messages for Climate Policy Making?
Steve Schneider Professor of Biology and Co-Director, Center for Environmental Science and Policy, Stanford University

9:00-9:20 Climate Change, Deforestation, and the Future of Tropical Forests
Yadvinder Malhi Professor of Ecosystem Science, Oxford University Centre for the Environment

9:20-9:40 Mountain Biota and Global Change
Christian Körner University of Basel, Switzerland

9:40-9:55 Questions/Discussion

9:55-10:15 Coffee break

10 :15-10:35 Functional Diversity, Ecosystem Services and Global Change
Sandra Díaz Senior Permanent Research Fellow, Argentine National Council of Scientific and Technical Research

10:35-10:55 The Biofuel, Food and Environment Trilemma
David Tilman Regents Professor and Distinguished McKnight University Professor, University of Minnesota

10:55-11: 15 Last Chance: Preserving Life on Earth
Larry Schweiger President and CEO, National Wildlife Federation

11:15-11:30 Questions/Discussion

11:30-12:00 Reinventing the Global Economy to Protect Biodiversity-- Trade, Infrastructure and Carbon Bruce Babbitt Former Secretary of the Interior

12:00-1:15 – Lunch

SESSION 4 - Food, Agriculture, and 21^st Century Ecosystems

Chair for Session 4 – Thomas Lovejoy Heinz Center Biodiversity Chair, The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, & the Environment

1:15-1:35 Agricultural systems and ecosystem services: trade-offs or synergies?
Alison Power Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University

1:35-1:55 Biofuels and Agricultural Sustainability
Phil Robertson Professor of Ecosystem Science, Michigan State University

1:55-2:15 Marine fisheries: is the glass half full or half empty?
Boris Worm Assistant Professor in Marine Conservation Biology, Dalhousie University

2:15-2:35 Aquaculture and marine resources: Can there be a salmon in every pot?
Rebecca Goldburg Director, Marine Science, Pew Environment Group, The Pew Charitable Trusts

2:35-2:55 Agriculture and agricultural landscapes in the 21^st century
Rodney J. Brown Dean, College of Biology & Agriculture, Brigham Young University

2:55-3:10 Questions/Discussion

3:10-3:30 Coffee break

SESSION 5 - Biodiversity: International institutions, science and policy

Chair for Session 5 – Thomas Lovejoy

3:30-3:50 International Environmental Cooperation in the 21^st Century
Scott Barrett Professor of Environmental Economics, Johns Hopkins University

3:50-4:20 The Daily Planet -- An exploration of how, on a fast-changing Earth, the shrinking media can continue to cover environmental change and help build informed policy
Andrew Revkin Environment Reporter, The New York Times

4:20-4:50 Ten Million Places at the Table: Translating Biodiversity Issues from Science to Policy
Jim Collins Associate Director for Biological Sciences, NSF

4:50- 5:00 Questions/Discussion

5:00-5:20 Concluding comments on the day: Advocacy and Policy
Rodger Schlickeisen President and CEO, Defenders of Wildlife

5: 25 Concluding remarks and thanks Peter Crane