Cerissa Hoglander

Speaker

Grand Canyon Trust

Cerissa Hoglander, Land Conservation Program Associate, Grand Canyon Trust

Cerissa joined the Trust in 2013 and supports many exciting science and research projects, including the development of a climate adaptation plan that builds on the existing conservation and restoration efforts of the North Rim Ranches program. Cerissa completed her M.S. in environmental sciences and policy in 2012 from Northern Arizona University and has had several years of program coordination, habitat restoration, and conservation biology experience. She truly appreciates her coworkers and hard work they all do, each and every day.

Desert

Time

10:00 - 11:30

Track

Mountains & Desert

Wet Ecosystems in the Arid Southwest

Multiscale Perspectives From a Landscape Where Water is Everything

Wet ecosystems in the arid southwest region of the United States (river systems, spring and seep systems, and wetlands) differ from much of the rest of the continent in being unique features embedded in an extensive matrix of very dry upland areas. Many of these ecosystems, even portions of the larger rivers, are ephemeral or intermittent, and many or even most of the spring and wetland systems depend on recharge from groundwater. They provide water to huge metropolitan areas hundreds or even thousands of miles away, as well as many small, scattered local communities. They are the areas of greatest biological diversity in the region, but many have also been heavily altered by invasive species. Their biological values and critical importance to humans make them the most valuable resource in the arid southwest, but conflicting conservation and anthropogenic values, especially in a shifting climate, make their management among the most complex challenges in the nation.

Organizer

Rob Klinger

Ballroom B

Speakers

Cerissa Hoglander

Steven Lee

Andy Zdon