Mathematical ecologist Alan Hastings, of the University of California, Davis, will deliver the 24th annual Theodore G. Ostrom Lecture at the WSU Pullman campus. His lecture, titled “New Approaches to the Design of Marine Reserves,” is slated for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 30, in Smith CUE 202. A reception will follow in the Hacker Lounge, Neill 216.
In order to rebuild commercially valuable fish populations, some areas in which fishing and other human disturbances are banned, called marine reserves, have been set aside. Hastings’ work suggests that the marine reserve system can yield the same fishery harvest as traditional management practices with the added benefits of protecting biodiversity and reducing large fluctuations in fish populations.
Hastings, a distinguished professor in the UC Davis Department of Environmental Science and Policy, will discuss how mathematical approaches can help in the design of marine protected areas.
The annual Theodore G. Ostrom Lecture endowment brings an internationally renowned mathematics scholar to the Pullman campus. The lecture honors Emeritus Professor Ostrom, who retired from WSU in 1981 after 21 years on the mathematics faculty and who expects to attend this year’s lecture.
