Alaska National Wildlife Refuge Week Events

p>Whether its taking a walk among the fall colors, spotting a rare bird species, or learning about the cultural resources that are part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services conservation mission, National Wildlife Refuge Week, October 12-18, 2008, celebrates the diversity and resources of Americas 548 national wildlife refuges. National wildlife refuges are dedicated to the conservation of fish and wildlife and their habitats. They also offer a wide range of wildlife-dependent recreation--from hunting and fishing to wildlife observation, wildlife photography, nature interpretation and environmental education. The Refuge System includes 2,500 miles of land and water trails, and there is at least one national wildlife refuge national wildlife refuge
A national wildlife refuge is typically a contiguous area of land and water managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service  for the conservation and, where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.

Learn more about national wildlife refuge in every state and one within an hours drive of most major cities.

Here in Alaska, the Service, in partnership with Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges, the University of Alaska, the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, and Alaska Geographic, will offer a series of National Wildlife Refuge Week presentations on climate change climate change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.

Learn more about climate change by Dr. Michael E. Schlesinger. The schedule of these programs will be as follows:

• ; Saturday, Sept. 27: Public lecture in Kodiak, 7 p.m. Kodiak Refuge Visitor Center

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• ; Monday, Sept. 29: Public lecture in Anchorage, 7:30 p.m. UAA's Wendy Williamson Auditorium

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• ; Tuesday, Sept. 30: In Fairbanks, 3:30 p.m. afternoon seminar for UAF faculty/students (201 O"Neill Bldg.), evening public lecture, 7 p.m., Westmark Hotel's Yukon Room

• ; Saturday, Oct. 4: Evening public lecture in Homer, 7 p.m. at Islands and Ocean Visitor Center, Homer

Michael E. Schlesinger, PhD is Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he directs the Climate Research Group within the Department of Atmospheric Sciences. He is one of the many contributors to the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

He is an expert in the modeling, simulation and analysis of climate and climate change, with interests in simulating and understanding past, present and possible future climates, climate impacts and climate policy. He carried out the first detailed comparison of climate and climate changes simulated by different atmospheric general circulation models. Dr. Schlesinger has directed NATO and other conferences in Italy, England and the United States; and has edited four books, most recently "Human-Induced Climate Change: An Interdisciplinary Assessment?

Dr. Schlesinger has contributed to many assessments of climate change, including those of the IPCC and the Stanford Energy Modeling Forum. Professor Schlesinger is a member of Illinois Governor Blagojevich's Climate Change Advisory Group. He received his B.S. and M.S. in Engineering, and his Ph.D. in Meteorology, all from the University of California, Los Angeles.

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