Dr. Jefferson Hall’s research focuses on understanding the flow of goods and services provided by tropical forests and how they change with land use and climate change. He is also the Director of Smithsonian’s Agua Salud project which includes a 700-hectare landscape-scale laboratory to understand the role of biodiversity in regulating stream flow, sequestering carbon, and other ecosystem processes. Since the project’s inception, Agua Salud has yielded landmark publications, leveraged over $15 million in matching support from private and government sources, engaged more than 100 scientists from around the world, and involved major institutional partners including the Autoridad del Canal de Panamá, MiAmbiente, Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, US National Science Foundation, US Geological Survey, the InterAmerican Development Bank, and public and private universities in the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Dr. Hall’s talk will highlight key lessons for the restoration of degraded lands with the goal to optimize economic opportunities, water management, carbon storage, soil fertility, biodiversity and other key dimensions of prosperous landscapes.

Host: Jefferson Hall, Smithsonian Institution