University of Michigan climate change experts available

December 11, 2002
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University of Michigan climate change experts available ANN ARBOR—Federal officials, scientists and representatives of industry and environmental groups met recently in Washington, D.C. to discuss a research plan on global warming and its impact. The University of Michigan has experts who can discuss climate change issues from various perspectives: James A. Teeri, professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, excels in communicating with media and lay audiences about possible future environmental changes from global warming. Research interests include responses of plants and entire ecosystems to the climate changes that are anticipated to occur in the next century and linkages between above- and below-ground ecological processes that are affected by elevated carbon dioxide and climate change. He can be reached at (734) 763-4461 or jateeri@umich.edu. Additional information is at www.eeb.lsa.umich.edu/eebfacultydetails.asp?ID=76 Henry Pollack, professor in the Department of Geological Sciences, reconstructs climate change history from borehole temperature readings. His research has shown that Earth’s 500-year warming trend accelerated considerably in the 20th century, which was the warmest of the past five centuries. He can be reached at (734) 763-0084 (Dec. 13-20, 2002) or hpollack@umich.edu. Additional information on his work is at www.geo.lsa.umich.edu/~hpollack/ Mercedes Pascual, assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, has done research showing a link between El Nino climate variation and cholera outbreaks. She and her coworkers recently determined that the climate-cholera link has strengthened in recent decades. Because El Nino effects are predicted to become stronger and more variable in coming years under a global warming scenario, understanding the connection to human disease will be increasingly important, says Pascual, who was named one of "The 50 Most Important Women in Science" in the November 2002 issue of Discover magazine. She can be reached at (734) 615-9808 or pascual@umich.edu. More information on her research is at www.eeb.lsa.umich.edu/eebfacultydetails.asp?ID=60 Anton A. ("Tony") Reznicek, curator of vascular plants at the U-M Herbarium and lecturer in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, studies Great Lakes plants and their reaction to changing climate. He can be reached at (734) 764-5544 (office) or reznicek@umich.edu. Details of his work are at www.eeb.lsa.umich.edu/eebfacultydetails.asp?ID=89 Contact: Nancy Ross-Flanigan
E-mail: rossflan@umich.edu

jateeri@umich.eduwww.eeb.lsa.umich.edu/eebfacultydetails.asp?ID=76hpollack@umich.eduwww.geo.lsa.umich.edu/~hpollack/pascual@umich.eduwww.eeb.lsa.umich.edu/eebfacultydetails.asp?ID=60reznicek@umich.edu