International Swiss Climate Summer School

13th International Swiss Climate Summer School
“Linking Land Use, Land Cover, and Climate”

31 August – 5 September 2014, Grindelwald, Switzerland

Scope
The 13th International Swiss Climate Summer School was focused on the theme “Linking land use, land cover, and climate”. This theme had been chosen due to its paramount importance in terms of both scientific challenges and pressing societal concerns. Specific topics addressed included:

Land cover dynamics and interactions with the atmosphere
Linking disparate systems: from climate to impacts
Rapid climate change and biotic responses
Climate change and “safe operating space” of the planet

The Summer School invited young researchers from all fields of climate research. The courses covered a broad spectrum of climate and climate impact research issues to foster cross-disciplinary links. Each topic included keynote plenary lectures and workshops with in-depth discussion in smaller groups. All Summer School participants presented a poster of their research with ample opportunity for discussions and group presentations on key themes of the workshop.

On Monday September 1, Esther Githumbi presented a poster titled “Long Term Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics in East Africa” [Click to see poster] and on Thursday September 4, Colin Mustaphi presented a poster of ongoing REAL project work on historical fire regimes and vegetation cover in East Africa titled “Fire disturbance regimes and vegetation interactions in East Africa during the Late Quaternary” [Click to see poster].