The Caribbean, a biodiversity hotspot, has experienced multiple distinct waves of colonization beginning around 7,000 years ago. As a result of human migration and extensive trade networks, this insular system has undergone intense cultural, economic, and demographic changes, which have, in turn, triggered substantial ecological change.
My research objective is to use an assortment of these sediment cores from multiple ponds and islands to reconstruct the long-term population dynamics of the vulnerable and in decline Leach’s Storm-petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous).
CPN panels are groups of people who oversee specific aspects of the network. Current panels are: Field Courses, Webinars, Student, Annual Meeting, Diversity/Equity/Inclusion, and Working Groups.
Each panel has two people who serve as chairs for a limited term, as well as additional panel members.
The planning team includes the Steering Committee, the Advisory Group, and chairs from the following six Panels: Working Groups Panel, Field Courses Panel, Webinars Panel, Annual Meeting Panel, Student Panel, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Panel. We plan to recruit additional panel members from among network participants. We welcome suggestions regarding additional activities that should be developed.
We will use the listserv to communicate with you through newsletters, and post information about upcoming events such as field courses and annual meetings, as well as CPN output such as webinars. Please submit posts to the listserv when you would like to share something or solicit advice from the community.
As of May 2020, our network includes 357 members. Most of our members volunteered optional information when filling out the enrollment form. Thank you! Here is a summary of who we are in terms of our expertise, geographic regions of interest, and the primary organisms we study.
If coral reefs are the rainforests of the sea, then corals from the Acropora genus are the tall canopy trees. Acroporids typically grow much faster and taller than other corals and play an outsized role in reef habitat complexity and carbonate production. Although Indo-Pacific reefs contain about 150 Acropora species, Caribbean reefs only contain two: the branching elkhorn (A. palmata) and staghorn corals (A. cervicornis). These two corals therefore have VIP status on Caribbean reefs.
The goal of the network is to integrate and translate historical approaches to better serve the conservation and management of ecosystems and organisms. To ensure effective progress toward this goal, the early phase of the CPN has been led by our initial planning team. Our ultimate goal is to facilitate conservation by using data from across temporal scales. We look forward to hearing from you soon!
Calling all students! On behalf of the Student Panel, we would like to welcome you to the CPN. The Student Panel is the student-led leadership group within the CPN. Our goals are to (1) engage the student membership, (2) facilitate networking between students as well as between students and faculty members, postdocs, practitioners, and stakeholders, and (3) organize resources, trainings, and community-building activities to help prepare students for future careers in conservation paleobiology.
We welcome you to the network and are thrilled that so many of you have joined! We are also delighted by the many enthusiastic comments we have received from the newly enrolled members, and we hope that you will contribute to expanding the network and promoting its activities. We look forward to engaging this broad and growing community.