The 2024 Sierra Nevada Science Symposium was hosted in March.
The event was a collaborative effort between the University of California, Merced, the Sierra Nevada Research Institute, and UC Merced Natural Reserve System Yosemite and Sequoia Field Stations.
Researchers from 27 colleges and universities came together with resource managers and scientists from the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey.
The symposium served as a platform to discuss the latest science and research on protected lands, informing Sierra Nevada resource management issues.
The theme, “Sierra Nevada Past, Present, & Future: Management in Changing Environments,” fostered an understanding of adaptive management and restoration in past, present, or projected climate conditions.
The conference featured more than 100 oral and poster presentations.
Eight sessions covered air, soil, and water, giant sequoia ecology, indigenous co-stewardship, restoration, forest dynamics and fire, aquatic ecosystems, alpine environments, and biodiversity.
More than 20 SNRI faculty and researchers presented their approaches and findings.
The findings covered wildfire resilience, changing uses by park visitors, climate-smart forest seed sourcing, restoration, ecosystem services valuation, eco-hydrologically informed carbon sequestration policy, and approaches to increasing a sense of belonging in field-based research.
The investigations presented by universities and non-government organizations throughout California were project support from the UC Merced Yosemite and Sequoia Field Stations.
Moreover, art that integrates science was also on display.
Scott Johnston, professor of geology at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, juxtaposed his geological research with a textile from artist and longtime Yosemite Leadership Program supporter Ann Johnston.
Andie Thrams, Yosemite and Sequoia Field Stations artist-in-residence displayed her “Forest Prayer Flags” and “HOPE?” projects.
With over 200 attendees representing a range of entities, including state, federal, and local agencies, non-governmental organizations, and colleges and universities, the 2024 Sierra Nevada Science Symposium was a platform for diverse perspectives.
The Yosemite Conservancy, Sequoia Parks Conservancy, and the National Park Service sponsored this year’s symposium, along with in-kind contributions from conference co-organizers from UC Merced Natural Reserve System, Sierra Nevada Research Institute, U.S. Geological Survey, and Sequoia and Kings Canyon and Yosemite National Parks.
The symposium also provided a space for dialogue on strategies for taking informed management action to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem function, as well as maintaining hope, momentum, and public communications in meeting climate-related and other challenges.
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