MAX-PLANCK-INSTITUT FÜR WISSENSCHAFTSGESCHICHTE Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

Event

Oct 12, 2020
The Techno-Biosphere

  • Workshop
  • Dept. I
  • Several Speakers
  • Robert Dunn
  • Ingrid van de Leemput
  • Christian Rutz
  • Walter Jetz
  • Damaris Zurell

A workshop held by the promoters of the “Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology” and the Biology & Medicine Section of the MPG

Growing anthropogenic pressure on ecosystems and shrinking biosphere integrity poses major risks to the basic ecological foundations of human societies. Apart from the unintended consequences of accelerating ecosystem degradation, humans also intentionally engineer organisms and their metabolic functions and biochemical pathways, fundamentally altering evolutionary traits. This trend towards a geohistorically novel “Anthropocene biosphere” can be understood on the systemic level as the result of the increasing interactions between the biosphere and the “technosphere”: the emergent technological mat of human-industrial networks that severely perturb and alter Earth’s material and energy flows to the extent that it becomes itself an agent of global change.

To account for the key role of the life sciences in tackling the friction zones of human-Earth system interaction, this half-day workshop has invited biodiversity researchers, ecologists, and complexity scientists to discuss analytical approaches to model, describe, and better understand the drivers and impacts of the evolving “techno-biosphere”.

Organizing Team:

Mona Friedrich, Christoph Rosol.

Program:

1:00 pm

Welcome & Introduction
by Jürgen Renn and Martin Wikelski

1:15 pm

Robert Dunn
Understanding the Geoanthropology of the Past and Future through a Focus on the Biology of the Home

2:00 pm

Ingrid van de Leemput
Resilience of Complex Systems

2:45 pm

Break

3:00 pm

Christian Rutz
A Deep Mechanistic Understanding of Human–Wildlife Interactions is Essential for the Emerging Field of Geoanthropology

3:45 pm

Walter Jetz
Ecology of a Rapidly Changing Biosphere

4:30 pm

Discussion and Concluding Remarks
by Jürgen Renn and Martin Wikelski
 

Another workshop speaker, Damaris Zurell, could not attend due to a conflict of schedule. She already gave her presentation at the regular Anthropocene Colloquium on September 18, 2020.

Damaris Zurell 
Understanding and Predicting Global Biodiversity Dynamics: Embracing Mechanisms and Data

 

 

Organizer(s)
Related Project(s)
Address
Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Room
Zoom/Online Meeting Platform
2020-10-12T14:00:00SAVE IN I-CAL 2020-10-12 14:00:00 2020-10-12 15:00:00 The Techno-Biosphere A workshop held by the promoters of the “Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology” and the Biology & Medicine Section of the MPG Growing anthropogenic pressure on ecosystems and shrinking biosphere integrity poses major risks to the basic ecological foundations of human societies. Apart from the unintended consequences of accelerating ecosystem degradation, humans also intentionally engineer organisms and their metabolic functions and biochemical pathways, fundamentally altering evolutionary traits. This trend towards a geohistorically novel “Anthropocene biosphere” can be understood on the systemic level as the result of the increasing interactions between the biosphere and the “technosphere”: the emergent technological mat of human-industrial networks that severely perturb and alter Earth’s material and energy flows to the extent that it becomes itself an agent of global change. To account for the key role of the life sciences in tackling the friction zones of human-Earth system interaction, this half-day workshop has invited biodiversity researchers, ecologists, and complexity scientists to discuss analytical approaches to model, describe, and better understand the drivers and impacts of the evolving “techno-biosphere”. Organizing Team: Mona Friedrich, Christoph Rosol. Program: 1:00 pm Welcome & Introduction by Jürgen Renn and Martin Wikelski 1:15 pm Robert Dunn Understanding the Geoanthropology of the Past and Future through a Focus on the Biology of the Home 2:00 pm Ingrid van de Leemput Resilience of Complex Systems 2:45 pm Break 3:00 pm Christian Rutz A Deep Mechanistic Understanding of Human–Wildlife Interactions is Essential for the Emerging Field of Geoanthropology 3:45 pm Walter Jetz Ecology of a Rapidly Changing Biosphere 4:30 pm Discussion and Concluding Remarks by Jürgen Renn and Martin Wikelski   Another workshop speaker, Damaris Zurell, could not attend due to a conflict of schedule. She already gave her presentation at the regular Anthropocene Colloquium on September 18, 2020. Damaris Zurell  Understanding and Predicting Global Biodiversity Dynamics: Embracing Mechanisms and Data     Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany Zoom/Online Meeting Platform Jürgen RennChristoph RosolMartin Wikelski Jürgen RennChristoph RosolMartin Wikelski Europe/Berlin public