iCCB (Integrative Climate Change Biology) is an incredibly successful program, funded primarily by the IUBS (International Union of Biological Sciences), to develop trait-based approaches that can make deep-time perspectives from paleontology applicable for understanding organisms’ responses to climate change. During its last round of funding, the IUBS tasked the iCCB with making inroads with African museums and conservation groups. In March 2017, iCCB did just that, holding a very successful meeting and educational workshop at the Natural History Museum of Kenya, Nairobi. The meeting brought together paleontologists, ecologists, and quantitative biologists to discuss how data from paleontology, modern ecology, and conservation biology can be integrated to provide a comprehensive framework for monitoring and measuring ecosystem structure and function through space and time. During that meeting, Jenny was invited to become a member of the executive committee for the program.
Last week (Dec. 11-14), Jenny attended a meeting of the iCCB Executive Committee in Berlin. There we discussed strategies to take the successes from the most recent thrusts of the iCCB in Africa and create a new program that will integrate outreach and research on African ecosystems in a way that will directly inform conservation policy. We developed a plan of action for the next year to initiate this strategy. Keep an eye out for the new program in the next several years and updates here in the meantime.