Its longest-term project, the Mission to Record the Earth, has focused on conducting at least one scientific research project at each of the world’s 31 major ecosystems. In 2020, they launched a new project in their 27th ecosystem (four more to go!), in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The planet’s largest intact mangrove ecosystem in the world, a set of passive acoustic sensors were deployed within a current long-term forest diversity research project being conducted by faculty in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Sciences at the Shahjala University of Science and Technology (SUST) in Sylet, Bangladesh. The objective of the joint Purdue-SUST study is to determine how faunal and tree diversity change across the mangrove ecosystem as it naturally varies from lower to upper estuarine locations. Part of the study is to assess how the withdrawal of fresh water from upland watersheds is altering biodiversity in portions of the mangrove ecosystem. Long-term (2+ years) recordings will be assessed for animal acoustic diversity and then associated with the forest inventories being conducted by SUST. We are hoping to hear the gruff roar of the famous Bengal Tiger, which lives in these mangroves. One acoustic recorder was also set up with a hydrophone to record temporal changes in the fish and marine mammal community located at one of the park’s dolphin protected areas. CGS is also pleased to report new funding was acquired from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Central Florida), National Science Foundation’s Coupled
Natural Human Systems program (Mongolia), Purdue Shah Innovation Labs (India), and the NASA Biodiversity Program (Tanzania, Colombia and Canada).
soundscape ecology support for the USFWS Avian Acoustic Monitoring Project.
Through its project-based funding model, HTIRC has continued to support seven existing projects and also funded six new projects. Titles and more information on these projects can be found in the center’s 2019 annual report. New projects for 2020 included:
Dr. Songlin Fei, a faculty member at Purdue and HTIRC project investigator, was named the Dean’s Chair of Remote Sensing in August of 2020. More information can be found here: Purdue names Songlin Fei Dean’s Chair of Remote Sensing
and Natural Resources, launched a new podcast series. Dr. Mitch Zischke and Megan Gunn are co-hosting Pond University, covering related topics such as habitat, fish stocking, vegetation control and construction, and will feature conversations with aquatic scientists, landowners and pond professionals.
connects students to the Underground Railroad, Great Lakes and science.
Awarded six grants to researchers from Indiana University, IUPUI, Indiana State University, Ball State University, and Purdue University
The Purdue Climate Change Research Center partnered with the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) and Purdue Science's K-12 Outreach to curate resources that both assist educators with teaching climate change and intersect with existing Indiana Academic Standards for science.
The PCCRC hosted a series of research conversations to spark new ideas and collaborations. Through six real-time virtual webinars, the Center shared the research efforts of its affiliates with the campus community.
that warns of the emerging risks climate change poses to the U.S. financial system.
The Tropical HTIRC hosted its annual advisory committee meeting in December 2019 in Honolulu. The committee provides guidance on the strategic directions of the center, prioritization of research themes, and staffing.
TropHTIRC recruited two new students, born and raised in Hawai’i, into graduate studies at Purdue: Tawn Speetjens and Kylle Roy. Speetjens is studying ‘iliahi nursery propagation and restoration planting in collaboration with Hāloa ‘Āina for his master’s degree. Roy is studying the chemical ecology of beetles, fungi and ‘ōhi’a trees in association with Rapid ‘Ōhi’a Death for her PhD. Roy was awarded a Sloan Scholar to pursue her doctorate degree through the Sloan Foundation Indigenous Graduate Partnership.
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