TENNESSEE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY Keynote: Dr. Monica Papeş 

TENNESSEE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
47th Annual Conference
October 9, 2020
The keynote address, “Estimating future climatic suitability of pollinators with niche models and climate change scenarios” by Dr. Monica Papeş of the University of Tennessee’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB).This presentation provides a brief overview of ecological niche modeling and illustrates its application to estimating possible changes in species' climatic suitability under future climate scenarios. Two case-studies of changes in richness patterns are discussed: (1) pollinators of conservation concern in the southern Great Plains; and (2) buzz-pollinators of tomatoes in North America.
Mona Papeş is an associate professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) and she directs the Spatial Analysis Lab at The National Institute of Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She investigates species’ distributional patterns using ecological niche modeling, GIS, and remote sensing. Her research interests span macroecology and conservation biology. Current projects include: potential distributional shifts of species under future climate scenarios in the Appalachian region; use of terrestrial LiDAR to characterize vegetation structural complexity; and fire effects on understory plant communities in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.