Abstracts - Posters

Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change: ACGCER, A New Multidisciplinary Research Centre in Atlantic Canada

Tanya Bryan¹ and John Roff
¹Acadia University
tleveret@dal.ca

Climate change is of significant concern to the Atlantic region. The prospect of rising sea levels, warming temperatures, volatile weather patterns and resultant impacts on agricultural, fisheries and forestry industries could be daunting. In order to support studies of climate change on Atlantic ecosystems, Acadia University has developed the Atlantic Centre for Global Change and Ecosystem Research (ACGCER). ACGCER will establish a unique research facility not available either regionally or nationally. It will support research efforts directed at understanding the impact of climate change on the Atlantic region and how the public, government and industry can adapt to meet these changes. ACGCER will develop programs to enhance knowledge, build capacity for business, and develop the expertise of the environmental industry through research activity in areas such as climate change and environmental health.

The ACGCER faculty have the knowledge and research expertise in the areas of genetics, population biology and ecology of natural and manipulated ecosystems, both terrestrial and aquatic. This expertise will serve as the underpinnings for vital research into the important questions regarding the regional effects of climate change at the whole range of expected biological response, from the genetic to the ecosystem level. The state-of-the-art facilities of ACGCER will build upon the skills of a multidisciplinary group of researchers, not only from Acadia, but from institutions and industry in the region, nationally and internationally to build the regional capacity needed to address current and pressing questions relating to the impact of climate change on the environment.

2005-04-06