On Thursday, Nov. 8, Tim Seastedt, University of Colorado Boulder professor of biology, will visit Trinidad to lead a discussion about how environmental changes affect local and regional plants and animal species.
The program, “High Plains Perspectives: Local and Regional Implications of Environmental Change,” is open to the public and will be hosted at 7 p.m., in the Massari Theatre at Trinidad State Junior College (TSJC).
“In this talk, I will report on how some ‘strange bedfellows,’ increased carbon dioxide and nitrogen in the atmosphere, along with extreme events like drought and more or less frequent fires, are altering our plant and animal communities of the high plains and Rockies,” Seastedt said.
“These changes can be good news or bad news for various plant and animal species, and these changes are also affecting our water supplies and other commodities provided by natural areas.”
Seastedt is an instructor in the CU-Boulder Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and is a fellow at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR). His research interests include invasive species and how they interact with other components of global environmental change, with a focus on grassland and tundra ecosystems. His research sheds light on how insects and soil chemistry can be used to control the spread of non-native plants like diffuse knapweed, an aggressive noxious weed that infests about 100,000 acres locally and 3 million acres in the West.
Tickets for “High Plains Perspectives: Local and Regional Implications of Environmental Change” are $4 for adults and $3 for seniors and children. Tickets can be purchased at the door the evening of event or in advance Monday-Friday at the Trinidad Community Foundation, 134 West Main Street, Suite 24. TSJC students and faculty may attend for free with a school identification card. All proceeds will benefit the Purgatory River Anglers & Trout Unlimited.
The following day, Nov. 9, Seastedt will be working with 5th graders from World of Discovery daycare center. The students will visit the TSJC campus, and together with Seastedt, they will investigate toadflax, perennial weed, and possibly the weevils associated with the plants.
The Nov. 8 public program is part of “CU in the Community,” a series of lectures by CU-Boulder faculty. This community program is jointly sponsored by Trinidad State Junior College, Trinidad Community Foundation, Trinidad & Las Animas County Chamber of Commerce, Trinidad Times Independent, and the CU-Boulder Office for University Outreach.
–CU-Boulder Office for University Outreach–