Because Yellowstone is the last intact ecosystem in the temperate latitudes of the Planet, its importance goes beyond its boundaries. Yellowstone’s ecosystem, which has been operating for

Because Yellowstone is the last intact ecosystem in the temperate latitudes of the Planet, its importance goes beyond its boundaries. Yellowstone’s ecosystem, which has been operating for thousands of years, is now undergoing rapid changes as a result of global warming. Paleoecologist Cathy Whitlock describes her research in wild places like Yellowstone, and her quest to understand the consequences of future climate change in light of her understanding of the past. Dr. Cathy Whitlock is a Regents Professor Emerita in Earth Sciences at Montana State University and nationally and internationally recognized for her research and leadership activities in the field of climate and environmental change. Her studies of Yellowstone’s environmental history began in the 1980s when she started to collect sediment cores from lakes in search of information about past vegetation and climate change. This research continues to the present day in Yellowstone and in comparable places around the world. She served as lead author of the 2017 Montana Climate Assessment, which has inspired climate-change discussions across the state and led to the recent Montana Climate Solutions Plan, a consensus document for Montana’s future. Cathy has received numerous awards and honors from professional societies and organizations, and in 2018, she became the first person from a Montana university to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

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