Melissa Kemp ’10, an evolutionary biologist, gave a log lunch talk on her research, which takes place on the richest biodiversity hotspots across the globe: islands.
She talked about trends in species extinction and colonization, stressing the consequences of various effects of climate change on species’ well-being, including sea level changes and temperature fluctuations.
Melissa believes that although colonization processes will increase in the anthroposcene that is our future, extinction processes will outpace that of species colonization. Have we reached the point of no return? For the countless number of species that have already been completely wiped out, the answer may be yes.
— Jane Tekin ’19