Keynote Speaker:
Dr. Erin Vogel, Associate Professor at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Co-Director of the Tuanan Biological Research Station, and Director of CORE Borneo, a registered non-profit 501(c)3
Keynote Lecture: Climate change, wildfires, and wild orangutan conservation
Day: Wednesday, April 19
Time: 9:30 AM
Location: Savoy Multipurpose Room (D building, 2nd floor)
Zoom Recording: link Passcode: WM0?wUy9
Open to all
Dr. Erin Vogel is a primatologist, evolutionary ecologist, and an Associate Professor at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Her research is focused on how habitat quality influences energetics and health in wild primates, particularly in the face of variable and threatened environments. Dr. Vogel has taken a multifaceted approach to better understand how both natural and anthropogenic change influence the behavior and health of wild orangutans, and overall biodiversity in peatland habitats. She has been conducting research on non-human primate ecology since 1998 and began her research program at the Tuanan Biological Research Station in 2004. She is currently a co-director of the research station and is actively involved in mentoring the next generation of conservation biologists together with her Indonesian collaborators. Dr. Vogel is also the Director of CORE Borneo, a registered non-profit 501(c)3 that was formed to support orangutan and tropical peatland forest conservation by supporting scientific research conducted by Universities (Rutgers and Universitas Nasional) at Tuanan, training future scientists, environmental education, and support for engaging local communities in conservation.
Dr. Vogel will present on ongoing research focusing on the complex relationships between climate change, wildfires, and ecosystem health in the peatland forests of Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Uncontrolled peatland fires in Indonesia have increased in number and intensity over the past few decades, however, few studies have assessed the consequences of smoke exposure on wildlife populations. Dr.Vogel will discuss the effects of these fires on energetics, health, and behavior in wild orangutans at the Tuanan Research Station in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Her team’s work points to the importance of fire prevention policies and working together with local community leaders to reduce the occurrence of these devastating fires.
