Weekly Seminar: Ice & Fire: Wildfires in the high northern latitude regions under climate change, Dr. Dong Chen

Join us for our weekly seminar this Thursday, October 20th from 3:45-5pm in River Road RM 325 or via Zoom! GEOG's Dr. Dong Chen will be presenting "Ice & Fire: Wildfires in the high northern latitude regions under climate change."

Abstract: The Arctic region has been warming at a speed that is two-three times the global average over the past decades. This trend is expected to continue in the future. Under such strong warming, wildfires, the dominant disturbance agent in the circumpolar boreal forests and tundra, are likely to become more prevalent and frequent in the high northern latitudes. This will have substantial regional and global implications as wildfires are known to impose strong climatic, ecological, and societal impacts.

In this talk, Dr. Chen will provide an overview of 1) why studying wildfires in the high northern latitudes is crucial, and 2) the work he has done contributing to the characterization of wildfire regimes (including distribution, burned area, and burn severity) and the understanding of wildfires’ impacts in the circumpolar regions over the past ten years.

Bio: Dr. Chen is an Assistant Research Professor at the Department of Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland, where he obtained his PhD. He focuses on using remote sensing, GIS, and machine learning to better understand the climatic, ecological, and societal impacts of wildfires in the Arctic boreal and tundra ecosystems.

Zoom Meeting Info: Please email weiyec@umd.edu for Zoom details.