Dr. Virginia Burkett, chief scientist for Global Change with the U.S. Geological Survey will discuss global change at 2 p.m. Feb. 4 in Angelle Hall. Admission is open to the public and is free.
Burkett was formerly chief of the Forest Ecology Branch at the National Wetlands Research Center and associate regional Chief Biologist for the USGS Central Region. She has served as director of the Louisiana Coastal Zone Management Program, director of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and assistant director of the Louisiana Geological Survey.
She has published extensively on the topics of global change and low-lying coastal zones. She was a lead author on the United Nation's IPCC Third and Fourth Assessment Reports (2001 and 2007) and an IPCC Technical Paper on Water (2007). Burkett coordinated both the Coastal and Southeast synthesis chapters of the U.S. National Assessment of climate change and its impacts. During her career Burkett has been appointed to over 40 commissions, committees, science panels and boards.