From rampant urbanization to the alarming spread of invasive species and the rapidly increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, human activities are impacting natural systems on a global scale. Nowhere is the impact of mankind on nature more evident than in cities, where forests have been razed, wetlands paved, shorelines bulwarked, and nature has been relegated to patches of parkland and isolated remnants of woodlands and wetlands. These urban refuges retain only a fraction of their historic biodiversity, but they do provide opportunity for the more than 50% of the global population that lives in cities to engage with the wonders and mysteries of nature. The Changing Nature of Nature in Cities symposium will explore the concept of novel ecosystems that are the result of urban development, and ask if these much-maligned accidents of unbridled growth could ultimately mitigate the impacts of environmental change and re-introduce the wonder of nature in cities.

Speakers:
Peter Del Tredici, Adjunct Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, Harvard School of Design
Richard J. Hobbs, School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia
Emma Marris, author/journalist
Kate Orff, Founder of Scape/Landscape Architecture, and Associate Professor of Architecture at Columbia School of Architecture

Sponsored by: NYBG Humanities Institute

Organized by: NYBG Adult Education

Event website: http://nybg.org/humanities

Cost: Member, $10.00; Non-Member: $20.00