To follow is the latest (4/11/2015) newsletter from MRI, For more information please follow the link: “MRI Europe Newsflash | November 2015”
NEWS
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SEEmore, the South Eastern Europe Mountain Research Network, has a new Chair
We are happy to announce that Nikolas Katsoulakos has been elected as new Chair of SEEmore. Nikolas is a postdoctoral researcher in the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, specialized in sustainable energy and energy poverty alleviation with focus on mountainous communities.
UNESCO Chair on “Natural and Cultural Heritage for Sustainable Mountain Development” endorsed by UNESCO
As Chairholder will act Professor Stephan Rist (CDE) and as Co-Chairholder Boniface Kiteme, Director of CETRAD. Beat Ruppen, Director of the Management Centre of the World Heritage site will be responsible for coordination and management.
News about “Soil Loss by Water Erosion in Europe (RUSLE 2015)”
The study applied a modified version of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model, RUSLE 2015, which delivers improved estimates based on higher resolution (100 m compared to 1 km) peer-reviewed inputs of rainfall, soil, topography, landuse and management for the year 2010.
International workshops on knowledge exchange in geology and regional development
Geoparks, regional nature parks and UNESCO World Heritage sites can benefit from each other in terms of knowledge exchange. Recently, Swiss Experts from Graubünden, ZHAW and Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona travelled to Romania for a working visit.
News from the Botanical Garden of the Comenius University in Bratislava
Check out the latest news of the Botanical Garden of the Comenius University in Bratislava’s long-term effort to promote informed (evidence-based) decision making in nature conservation, environmental management, regional & spatial planning.
Summary of the SENSFOR Workshop in Scotland
The workshop of October 8-10 held at The James Hutton Institute is part of the project “Enhancing the resilience capacity of sensitive mountain forest ecosystems under environmental change” (SENSFOR) that aims at integrating scientific methods and results related to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of natural resources under climate change and land use change.
PhD Position in numerical modelling at the interface of ecology and hydrology
Open PhD Position at the Centre for Hydrogeology and Geothermics (CHYN), University of Neuchatel, Switzerland.
Deadline for application: 1 December 2015
EVENTS
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Course on spatial multicriteria analysis for environmental decision-making
17-19 February 2016, Trento, Italy
Environmental decision-making involves the identification and comparison of different alternatives based on multiple objectives and criteria. This calls for a framework to integrate factual information on effects and impacts, with values and preferences of stakeholders. Multicriteria analysis (MCA) offers such a framework, and it is increasingly used in combination with GIS.
15th International Swiss Climate Summer School
28 August – 2 September 2016, Grindelwald, Switzerland
The 15th International Swiss Climate Summer School is focusing on the theme “Climate Risks – Coping with Uncertainty”. This theme has been chosen due to its paramount importance in terms of both scientific challenges and pressing societal concerns. The Summer School invites young researchers from all fields of climate research.
XIV Subfossil Cladocera Workshop
5-8 April 2016, Levico Terme, Italy
The XIV Subfossil Cladocera Workshop will take place at Levico Terme, a small thermal town located at the shore of Lake Levico in the Autonomous Province of Trento and will be organized by the Edmund Mach Foundation in collaboration with the International Research School in Applied Ecology (IRSAE).
19th Meeting of the FAO-CIHEAM Mountain Pastures Sub-network
14-16 June 2016, Zaragoza, Spain
Under the title “Mountain pastures and livestock farming facing uncertainty: environmental, technical and socio-economic challenges”, the meeting aims to share scientific and technical knowledge on ecology, animal, plant, social and environmental issues on mountain pastures and livestock farming.
International Summer School on Alpine Plant Life
17-23 July 2016, Furka Pass, Switzerland
For the 10th time, a comprehensive graduate course on alpine plant life in the Swiss central Alps is offered. Offered jointly by the Universities of Basel and Bern, and the Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center (PSC) for graduate students with basic plant science training, the course covers microclimatology, vegetation ecology, reproduction biology, aspects of biodiversity, soil science, ecophysiology and ecosystem ecology.
PECSRL biennial international conference
5-9 September 2016, Innsbruck and Seefeld, Austria
The 27th session of the PECSRL biennial international conference – “Mountains, uplands, lowlands. European landscapes from an altitudinal perspective” – will be held in 2016, at two locations: Innsbruck and Seefeld. It will be hosted by the Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
1st Caucasus Mountain Forum organized by Scientific Network for the Caucasus Mountain Region (SNC-mt)
28-30 November 2016, Tbilisi, Georgia
The Forum will serve as an important event for scientists and academics, policy makers, and practitioners to meet, exchange views on opportunities and challenges, and thereby seek to enhance regional dialogue and contribute to the better scientific understanding and coordination of sustainable mountain development (SMD) of the Caucasus region.
PUBLICATIONS
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Proceedings of the ForumAlpinum 2014 on-line!
Alpine resources: use, valorisation and management from local to macro-regional scale
The Proceeding of the ForumAlpinum 2014 give a broad insight into on-going and planned research, concepts and actions focusing on the use, valorisation and management of Alpine resources.
New book on the sherpas of Rolwaling in a globalised world
Ruedi Baumgartner: Farewell to Yak and Yeti? The Sherpas of Rolwaling facing a globalised world
baumgartner@nadel.ethz.ch
ISBN-10: 993762343X, ISBN-13: 978-9937623438
Hardcover: 296 pages, Publisher: Vajra Books, Nepal. (2015)
New publication on assessment of adaptive capacity
Nicotra A.B., E.A. Beever, A.L. Robertson, G.E. Hofmann,J. O’Leary (2015): Assessing the components of adaptive capacity to improve conservation and management efforts under global change. Conserv Biol, 29(5):1268-78. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12522.
New publication on conservation outcomes
Beever, E. A., O’Leary, J., Mengelt, C., West, J. M., Julius, S., Green, N., Magness, D., Petes, L., Stein, B., Nicotra, A. B., Hellmann, J. J., Robertson, A. L., Staudinger, M. D., Rosenberg, A. A., Babij, E., Brennan, J., Schuurman, G. W. and Hofmann, G. E. (2015): Improving Conservation Outcomes with a New Paradigm for Understanding Species’ Fundamental and Realized Adaptive Capacity. Conservation Letters. doi: 10.1111/conl.12190
New publication on LULC change scenarios
Vacquié L., Houet T., Sohl T., Reeker R., Sayler K., (2015): Developing scenarios to project LULC changes in the Pyrenees (France): a model-based approach to assess land abandonment and reforestation dynamics. The Journal of Mountain Science, 12(4), 905-920.
New publication on snow cover in Pyrenees from MODIS products
Gascoin, S., O. Hagolle, M. Huc, L. Jarlan, J.-F. Dejoux, C. Szczypta, R. Marti, R. Sánchez (2015): A snow cover climatology for the Pyrenees from MODIS snow products. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19: 2337-2351. Doi:10.5194/hess-19-2337-2015.
New publication about glacier evolution in French Pyrenees
Marti R., S. Gascoin, T. Houet, O. Ribière, D. Laffly, T. Condom, S. Monnier, M. Schmutz, C. Camerlynck, J.P. Tihay, J.M. Soubeyroux, P. René (2015): Evolution of Ossoue Glacier (French Pyrenees) since the end of the Little Ice Age. The Cryosphere Discuss., 9, 2431-2494.