Lunch lecture:Vegetation responses to climate change in challenging environments

The  Lunch Lecture on Friday is devoted to environmental issues. There, Silvia Piccinelli, assistant professor of environmental sciences at Franklin University in Switzerland, will give a talk she calls "Vegetation responses to climate change in challenging environments".  Silvia Piccinelli is the coordinator of field trips at Franklin University in Switzerland and is currently in Ísafjörður with a group of students from the school. The collaboration between Háskólsetur Vestfjörður and Franklin University has been successful and rewarding, which has led to the fact that student groups from the university have visited Ísafjörður in recent years. Silvia Piccinelli's teaching interests include includes all kinds of environmental and natural sciences, with a focus on recent climate change (e.g. impacts of climate change on cold ecosystems; natural disasters; environment and health; tourism and the environment; sustainability; genetics and evolution). Silvia's research work focuses on the effects of climate change on vegetation, with a particular interest in species that live in harsh conditions and growth limitations, including high-rises, permafrost environments and peatlands at high latitudes. Her expertise focuses on tree ecosystems and phytosociological approaches, researching plant responses to climate change, from tree and shrub species to alpine grasslands, snowbeds and ecological succession pioneers.

The lecture will be held in English. It will also be available on zoom.