How Animals Shape Ecosystems with Carl Safina, Fred Provenza & Tania Roa

A panel discussion among author and ecologist Carl Safina, professor and author Fred Provenza, and wildlife advocate and writer Tania Roa. An insightful conversation on the interconnections between wild and domestic animal welfare, and a criticism of perspectives and policies related to other species.

Carl Safina earned a PhD in ecology from Rutgers University by studying seabirds. Afterwards, he spent a decade working to ban high-seas drift nets and to overhaul U.S. fishing policy. He has written many books on animals and the environment, including Song for the Blue Ocean and Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace. He hosted the PBS series Saving the Ocean, and continues to use his speaking skills to spread awareness for biodiversity conservation. He is now the first Endowed Professor for Nature and Humanity at Stony Brook University (where he formerly co-chaired the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science), and he runs the not-for-profit Safina Center.

Fred Provenza is professor emeritus of Behavioral Ecology in the Department of Wildland Resources at Utah State University, where he worked for 35 years directing an award-winning research group that pioneered an understanding of how learning influences foraging behavior and links soil, plants, herbivores, and humans. He is one of the founders of BEHAVE, an international network of scientists, ranchers, farmers, and land managers committed to integrating behavioral principles with local knowledge. He authored Nourishment: What Animals Can Teach Us about Rediscovering Our Nutritional Wisdom and Foraging Behavior: Managing to Survive in a World of Change.

Tania Roa earned a Master of Science in Animals and Public Policy from Tufts University. She specialized in wildlife conservation and the connections between animal, human, and planet health. During the summer of 2020, her internship at World Animal Net gave her the opportunity to work with international animal welfare organizations and design digital campaigns urging the United Nations to include extensive biodiversity measures in their 2030 agenda for sustainable development. She uses her photography and writing to advocate for other species, climate justice, and adequate representation for historically marginalized communities.

This panel is part of our Nature’s Solutions as National Policy mini conference series. Learn more about this series here: https://bio4climate.org/conferences/natures-solutions-as-national-policy/

#wildlife #agriculture #animalwelfare