Climate and Food Systems
There has been a long history of climate transitions in the southwest and the people who have lived in this region for tens of thousands of years have dealt with this climate change through time, especially with adaptations of their food systems. We talk with Kyle Bocinsky whose specialty is paleoclimate reconstruction, and specifically, looking at how past farmers responded to climate change and negotiated the social implications of climate change in their societies. We explore the adaptation techniques that humans have used in the past, and how we can use them to learn about our future.
Meet the Scientist: Kyle Bocinsky
Kyle Bocinsky, PhD, RPA, is an assistant research professor in the Department of Society and Conservation and the Director of Climate Extension for the Montana Climate Office, housed in the WA Franke College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana. He serves users of climate data and information in Montana, including outreach supporting agriculture, forestry, recreation, and urban and rural resilience planning, with a special emphasis on partnering with Native Nations to meet their climate resilience goals. Kyle is an anthropological archaeologist who specializes in cross-disciplinary, computational approaches to studying resilience in socio-ecological systems, with a focus on high-elevation arid agricultural systems. In addition to his positions at UMT, Kyle holds appointments at the Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences at the Desert Research Institute and the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center.
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