Director of Innovation, GEMS World Academy
Res Publica GroupClimate, Climate Change, Ecosystem, Education, Environment, environmental activism, Weather Patterns
How do you talk to kids about what鈥檚 going on with our planet and how they can make a difference? Peg Keiner, Director of Innovation at GEMS World Academy and the United Nations Ambassador for Chicago 鈥 Life on Land, is an expert when it comes to educating kids about the environments surrounding them, taking them right to the source to do so. Through field studies, exploration of nature preserves, and attending the climate march, Peg and her students are putting into action what they鈥檝e been learning in the classroom. Peg is a National Geographic Education Fellow, a National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellow, Apple Distinguished Educator, and a Google Earth Education Expert with over 15 years of teaching experience. She can offer informative and engaging ways to discuss with children what鈥檚 going on with our environment, and some easy ways for kids to make a real difference right in their neighborhood.
Climate Change, Deforestation, Ecology, Ecosystem, Environment, Forest, Remote Sensing, Trees, woodlands
Dr Tommaso Jucker is a NERC Independent Research Fellow and Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences, where he leads the Selva Lab. His research explores the processes that shape the structure, diversity and function of the world鈥檚 forests, with a view of predicting how these will respond to rapid environmental change and how this in turn will impact society. To tackle these questions, Dr Jucker and his team at Selva Lab use a range of approaches, including manipulative experiments, long-term field observations, and cutting-edge remote sensing and modelling. Dr Jucker's core projects include exploring how logging and forest degradation associated with oil palm expansion impact the resilience of Borneo鈥檚 tropical forests to drought, investigating how forest dynamics shape the 3D structure of the world鈥檚 forest canopies, and mapping the distribution of old-growth woodlands in Australia鈥檚 iconic Great Western Woodlands to guide their conservation and restoration. Dr Jucker has published over 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals, including ones in Science, Nature, PNAS, Ecology Letters and Global Change Biology. His research is currently funded by NERC, The Royal Society and The Leverhulme Trust. Education 2009 - BSc Biological Sciences, University of Roma Tor Vergata, 2010 - MSc Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, Imperial College, London, 2015 - PhD Forest Ecology, University of Cambridge Affiliations 2017 - present - Associate Editor for Journal of Ecology and Associate Editor for Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, 2018 - present - Review Editor for Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Accomplishments 2015 - Harper Prize, highly commended for best paper by young author in Journal of Ecology, 2016 - President鈥檚 Prize for best presentation at the Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society鈥檚 annual conference, 2017 - Australian Academy of Science Travel Award, 2019 - NERC Independent Research Fellowship, 2020 - British Ecological Society Founders Prize (This award commemorates the enthusiasm and vision of the Society's founders and is awarded each year to an outstanding early-career ecologist who is starting to make a significant contribution to their field).