All, [Apologies for cross-postings.] Several of us who regularly attend the Association of American Geographers annual meeting are scheduling a session to discuss insect outbreaks. We'd welcome your participation. The meeting will be March 22-27, 2009, in Las Vegas. We will be requesting a Sunday session to avoid overlap with WFIWC. See below for session description. Regards, Jeff Hicke Insect outbreaks and forest ecosystems: Patterns, causes, and impacts Insect outbreaks have affected millions of hectares in North America in recent decades and have long been an important component of many ecosystems. Infestations reduce plant productivity, alter stand composition, and/or kill trees, and therefore substantially impact forest dynamics, biogeochemical cycles, subsequent disturbance regimes, and human uses of forests. Drivers of outbreaks include warming temperatures, drought, and host stand structure and composition. In spite of the widespread insect activity in recent years and the recognition of the importance of outbreaks in the natural disturbance regimes of many forest ecosystems, we know little about the causes and consequences of past and present insect epidemics. We are organizing a paper session on the patterns, causes, and impacts of insect outbreaks in forested ecosystems. We are interested in presentations focused on that main theme in regions worldwide, and welcome presentations that use any methodological approach and span a range of spatial and temporal scales. Session will be sponsored by the Biogeography and Mountain Geography specialty groups. If you are interested in participating in the session, please contact Jeff Hicke, Dominik Kulakowski, or Rosemary Sherriff by October 1, 2008. Once we have a list of participants we’ll gather abstracts, pin numbers, and other information to submit before the October 16th deadline. Jeff Hicke - jhicke(a)uidaho.edu Dominik Kulakowski - DKulakowski(a)clarku.edu Rosemary Sherriff - rsherriff(a)uky.edu -- Jeffrey Hicke Assistant Professor Department of Geography University of Idaho McClure Hall Room 305D Mailing Address: McClure Hall Room 203 PO Box 443021 Moscow, ID 83844-3021 Phone: 208-885-6240 Fax: 208-885-2855 jhicke(a)uidaho.edu www.uidaho.edu/~jhicke