Maine State Climatologist Dr. George Jacobson will deliver a lecture, Climate Variability and Biodiversity — Past and Future, at the University of Maine at Presque Isle at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 29, in the Campus Center. The public is invited to attend this free event.

During his talk, Dr. Jacobson will examine the nature of long-term climate variability and how that has changed ecosystems in Maine and the northeast over the past 20,000 years. He also will discuss how future changes in climate are likely to influence our landscapes.

Dr. Jacobson is Professor Emeritus of Biology, Ecology, and Climate Change at the University of Maine. Since his arrival in Maine in 1979, Dr. Jacobson has been a member of the Climate Change Institute, and he was Director of the Institute for nearly a decade. He currently serves as the Maine State Climatologist.

His research has focused on long-term climate variability and specifically on forest responses to climate changes during the past 60,000 years. His projects have included sites in North America, South America, and Europe. During the 1990’s, he chaired the Scientific Advisory Panel for the NOAA Paleoclimate Program, and for the past five years he has chaired a similar Scientific Advisory Panel for the European Science Foundation, the scientific arm of the European Union. In addition, he recently served as an advisor to the Finnish Academy of Sciences in their development of a paleoclimate research program.

Professor Jacobson joined the faculty of the University of Maine in 1979 after three years working in the United States Senate in Washington, D.C., first as a Congressional Science Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and then as a staff scientist for the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. He was born in Rapid City, South Dakota, and earned a Bachelor’s degree in 1968 from Carleton College and a Ph.D. in 1975 from the University of Minnesota. From 1968-1970, he served as a medical specialist in the United States Army.

In addition to his March 29 lecture, Dr. Jacobson will speak to Professor David Putnam’s climate change class on March 30.

“The faculty and students of the Environmental Studies Program at UMPI are honored to host Dr. Jacobson,” Putnam said. “This connection to the international expertise of the University of Maine and one of its premier programs, the Climate Change Institute, enhances our ability to serve our students and the region. Dr. Jacobson’s research on forest change in Maine continues to be validated by new information and has direct implications to the future of the forest products industry and the future economic well being of all Maine people. ”

The community is invited to attend this event. For more information about this free lecture, contact the University’s Community and Media Relations office at 768-9452.