Abstracts from the 132nd Meeting of the Tennessee Academy of Science November 18, 2022

Abstract

Jennifer Cartwright is the Science Coordinator for the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (CASC). She is an ecologist with a background in GIS and hydrology and a focus on supporting effective natural-resource management. Her research has concerned climate-change impacts on a variety of terrestrial, wetland, and freshwater ecosystems across North America. Jen has overseen studies of forest drought impacts on local-to-regional scales, modeling of wetland ecohydrology leveraging remote sensing and field observations, identification of refugia from climate change, and assessments of climate impacts to at-risk ecosystems and species. She has been affiliated with the USGS Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center since 2009 and received her Ph.D. in Biology from Tennessee State University in 2014. Climate Change Impacts Across Tennessee The state of Tennessee encompasses many landscapes and ecosystems, from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River. Climate change and other global-change processes are likely to impact a variety of natural resources and human communities throughout the state. This keynote address will offer a virtual “tour” of the state, touching on potential climate impacts to terrestrial ecosystems such as forests and grasslands, as well as freshwater systems such as streams, reservoirs, and wetlands, plus potential impacts to agriculture and cities. Increasingly, scientific information is becoming available to help anticipate climate-change influences on a variety of processes, including drought patterns, fire regimes, geographic ranges and seasonal timing for native species, hydrologic patterns, water quality and temperature, invasive species, and pest and pathogen dynamics. This keynote address will highlight some of these scientific resources to help researchers, natural-resource managers, and Tennessee residents better anticipate and prepare for climate impacts over the years ahead.