Jennifer Dunne: The Web of Life: Humans as a Part of Complex Ecological Networks

Traditionally, most ecological research has studied ecosystems as separate from humans. Jennifer Dunne shows how humans fit into and impact ecosystems through their myriad interactions with other species. She then explores how the science of ecological networks can help meet the pressing need to understand the roles of humans in ecosystems, particularly in terms of resource use and consumption. With examples from pre-industrial hunter-gatherer and agricultural societies, she will explore potential lessons for modern humans in fostering a more sustainable future.

Jennifer A. Dunne is the Vice President for Science at the Santa Fe Institute, an independent transdisciplinary research institute for the study of complex systems, where she has been on the faculty since 2007. Dunne received an A.B. from Harvard, where she studied philosophy; an M.A. in biology from San Francisco State University; and a Ph.D. from the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley. Dunne's research interests are in analysis, modeling, and theory related to the organization, dynamics, and function of ecosystems. This work focuses on ecological networks, in particular food webs which specify the complex feeding interactions and thus flows of energy and biomass among species. Dunne and her collaborators seek to identify fundamental patterns and principles of ecological network structure and dynamics across habitats and through deep time. Such research provides a quantitative framework for understanding the coexistence of species and the robustness, persistence, and stability of ecosystems, including how humans fit into and impact ancient, historic, and current systems. She has served as an editor at Oikos, Ecology Letters, the Journal of Complex Networks, and PeerJ; is a series editor for the Oxford Series in Ecology and Evolution; and is on the advisory board of the new science and culture magazine Nautilus. Her research has been featured in a variety of outlets, including American Scientist, the Christian Science Monitor, Earth, Wired, Science Now, Scientific American, Nature News, and BBC Science News.

Sponsored by the departments of political science and environmental studies.

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