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PSC Summer School 2017

Understanding Risks and Resilience in Plant Systems

Venue

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With humankind exceeding the planetary boundaries and the safe operating space, systemic risks have become frequent: our climate system is approaching a new state; biodiversity losses are endangering ecosystem services; pests are globally spreading and are threatening our food security.

Ernährung (Symbolbild)
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Complex systems are characterized by inter-connections between species, agents, individuals and multiple stable states, whereas regime shifts can be triggered after periods of stability towards non-linear behavior, i.e. path dependence, sustained oscillation, contagion and synchrony. Systemic risks arise from the potential for unpredictable changes of the system to another state. While we cannot predict the tipping points, we can stabilize the system in the current state through increasing or restoring resilience and diversity.

We will discuss modeling of variable to be considered in complex systems and their threshold effects as well as some interaction at the socio-ecological interface, the so-called complex adaptive systems. The range of topics spans from plant sciences to economy with a focus on modeling from the mathematical background to complex ecological models. Research and case studies are taken from climate change, ecosystem research, epidemiology, agriculture and economics with strong links to plant sciences.

Invited speakers will make presentations on the topic and their research, give insight into their research field, conduct interactive workshops and take part in plenary discussions. They will act as mentors in the case studies group work. The outcome of the group work will be made available in the proceedings.

Informations

Organizer

Contact:

Invited speakers:

  • Dr. Pia-Johanna Schweizer, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Berlin, DE
  • Dr. Melanie Paschke, PSC, CH
  • Prof. Mary Lou Zeeman, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME, US
  • Adam Clark, MSc, University of Minnesota, US
  • Prof. Chris Gilligan, University of Cambridge, UK
  • Dr. Christophe Randin, University of Lausanne, CH
  • Prof. Robert Finger, ETH Zurich, CH

Registration is open until March 15, 2017. MSc students, PhD students and PostDocs at University of Zurich, ETH Zurich or University of Basel. Students form national or international universities are welcome if places are available. Applicants will need to submit (1) their CV, (2) a reference letter (from the supervisor of the current or last research project) and (3) a short motivation statement (5-10 sentences).

Categories

Languages: English