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What We Do
The Institute for Global Change Biology: A Nexus for Interdisciplinary Global Change Research
Vision: To provide the interdisciplinary scientific bases to manage biological systems under global change.
Anthropogenic global change is causing biome shifts, species extinctions, functional disruptions in ecosystems, and the emergence of human and non-human diseases. While frequencies and magnitudes of impacts are accelerating, scientists, policymakers, and managers still lack the ability to predict with accuracy how anthropogenic changes will alter organisms, ecological communities, and ecosystems.
To help develop environmental policies and decision making tools to inform effective responses to global change impacts, the University of Michigan created the Institute for Global Change Biology. Through the IGCB, global change researchers at the University of Michigan have the support and infrastructure they need to collaborative effectively.
The primary goal of the IGCB is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the interactive effects of global change on organisms and ecological systems across temporal and spatial scales relevant to policy and management actions.
The IGCB brings together researchers from an array of universities and disciplines to encompass a broad range of global change topics. Our associated faculty belong to an array of schools within the University of Michigan and across other institutions; e.g. The School for the Environment and Sustainability, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, School of Public Health, and Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Past events
2023 Summer Symposium on Boreal Forests in a Changing Climate
Members of the IGCB University of Michigan team travelled to Minnesota to meet up with current and future collaborators at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve and the B4Warmed Forest Warming Experiments in Clouquet and Ely.
2023 IGCB Fall Symposium
The IGCB hosted an Open House and Mini-Symposium in October 2023 to welcome the IGCB community to our new space in the Samuel T. Dana Building and to showcase research from 2023 IGCB Research and Graduate Fellows.
IGCB Monthly Seminar Series
The IGCB hosts a monthly seminar series throughout the academic year on the 3rd Monday of each month @ 11:30 in Dana 1024. So far (as of March 2024) we have heard from an array of speakers including Meghan Duffy, Peter Reich, Brian Weeks, Nate Sanders, Lacey Knowles, Jacob Allgeier, Aimee Classen, Mohammed Ombadi, and Jennifer Head.
IGCB Postdoc+ Writing Retreat
The IGCB Postdoc+ community held a 3-day writing retreat to work on a joint cross-disciplinary review paper. More to follow on this paper soon.
IGCB-BSI Ideas Lab
The IGCB, along with the Biological Sciences Initiative, hosted an Ideas Lab in October 2023 for early career faculty from across UM campus to work together to come up with exciting and novel research ideas. 3 of these projects have been funded and are ongoing.
IGCB-MIDAS Symposium on Understanding Biodiversity in a Changing Planet
The IGCB, along with the Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS), hosted a symposium to provide a unique platform for researchers from diverse backgrounds to come together and delve into the significant role that data science plays in understanding and conserving biodiversity during climate change. This symposium involved high-quality speakers from around the world including, Thomas Crowther, Noah Fierer, Ruth Oliver, Robert Guralnik, Ben Weinstein, and Amy Zanne.