Camden Conference event: Firooza Pavri discusses changes in subarctic Iceland and Greenland

Firooza Pavri serves as Director of the Muskie School of Public Service and is Professor of Geography at the University of Southern Maine. Prior to joining USM, she lived in the Midwest and received her M.A. in Geography & Planning at the University of Toledo and Ph.D. in Geography at the Ohio State University respectively.  She is originally from India and research and family take her back frequently. Firooza’s teaching and research is in the area of environmental geography, with a focus on society-environment interactions, natural resource conservation & policy, sustainable development, and geospatial technologies, including satellite imaging. More recently, her work has focused on sub-Arctic environments in Iceland and south Greenland. In Iceland, she uses satellite data to monitor changes to the Hofsjökull icecap in the central highlands over the past twenty-five years.  She also works as part of an interdisciplinary team focused on studying the Kujataa UNESCO World Heritage site and its surrounding in south Greenland. Her work in south Greenland is focused on understanding shifting land cover and vegetation patterns using satellite data from the past three decades.  Firooza’s research has been supported by NASA and the NSF, among others. She is co-author of two books, articles, and reports in her areas of expertise.

Portland Public Library will once again host Community events with speakers and presenters from the 2021 Camden Conference.  Join us (virtually) for these informative and engaging events.

The 2021 Camden Conference will explore the Arctic, one of the world’s least-known regions. The Arctic already is undergoing dramatic, irreversible changes traceable to global warming, and as these changes impact the pace of climate change, they forewarn of the challenges ahead for human, animal and plant habitats in this and other regions.

We will examine how this transformation of the Arctic is creating a new arena for global power and competition. With the retreating ice mass will come new opportunities to pursue exploration and extraction of vast resources. Will there be unregulated competition, or cooperation among governments and industries? What kinds of security challenges will come with ice-free borders? The territories of eight nations extend into the Arctic, but others —especially China— will assert rights of access and passage. Open waters will make shipping between Pacific and Atlantic ports much cheaper. What could all this mean for Maine with its accessible northern ports, maritime industry, and vulnerable location on a rising ocean?

Please plan to join us on this voyage into the future of global affairs in the Arctic and our planet.