December 12, 2022
Media advisory: SIU prof offers expertise in biodiversity as world leaders meet
CARBONDALE, Ill. – As world leaders meet in Montreal through Dec. 19 to discuss threats to various species and habitat problems, a Southern Illinois University Carbondale researcher is available to talk with media about biodiversity issues and implications.
Brent Pease, assistant professor of forestry, researches a diverse set of applied issues in wildlife conservation and management, ranging from understanding large-scale changes in wildlife distribution and abundance, to developing sampling protocols for species of conservation concern, and evaluating harvest regulations for game species. Pease is available to speak on these subjects as negotiators gather in Canada for a United Nations biodiversity conference, known as COP15, to work out a plan for preserving Earth’s fragile ecosystems.
Pease can be reached at bpease1@siu.edu or 618-453-7474.
Pease uses observational and experimental fieldwork, combined with quantitative modeling and spatial analysis, to help guide state and regional management strategies. He also leads and contributes to a range of citizen science projects, including Sounds of Nature, a community research project aimed at understanding changes in biodiversity over time by recording and monitoring so-called “soundscapes,” the collective sounds emanating from a given area. He also established the annual Saluki BioBlitz – a 24-hour effort to record as many species as possible on the SIU campus.
Pease teaches courses on wildlife monitoring, spatial ecology, data management and analysis, and more.