Dear Colleagues, My colleagues and I are organizing a Technical Session for the next IUFRO World Congress in 2014 at Salt Lake City (Salt Lake City, October 5-11, 2014, http://iufro2014.com<http://iufro2014.com/>) and would like to invite you to submit abstracts for oral presentations in our session. Below is a short description of the session and potential topics that we would like to address. Please note that the deadline for abstract submission is 15th October 2013. Please let us know by October 5th if you would like to participate in our session. Then please go online and submit your abstract at this site: http://iufro2014.com/scientific-program/abstract-submissions/ by 15 OCTOBER 2013. During the submission process identify this technical session, #83. The title of our session (No. 83) is: "Boreal at risk: Integrative science as a strong foundation for public policy development" under the theme "Forests and Climate Change" Short description. This session will present the risk to the circumpolar boreal forest resulting from changes in climate, disturbances, species distribution, human activities and possible management and policy responses. List of co-organisers Deepa Pureswaran, Research Scientist, Natural Resources Canada (deepa.pureswaran@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca<mailto:deepa.pureswaran@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca>) Werner A. Kurz, Senior Research Scientist, Natural Resources, Canada (Werner.kurz@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca<mailto:Werner.kurz@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca>) Louis De Grandpré, Research Scientist, Natural Resources Canada (louis.degrandpre@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca<mailto:louis.degrandpre@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca>) Philip G. Comeau, Professor, University of Alberta, Canada, (pcomeau@ualberta.ca<mailto:pcomeau@ualberta.ca>) Outline of potential topics for the session (max 150 min) Boreal at risk: a science and policy synthesis from the 16th IBFRA conference (Werner Kurz with co-authors) (20 min) Northward expansion of insect pests (open, 20 min) Changes in plant and insect phenology (open, 20 min) Four or five 15 min presentations on the following topics * Changes in fire, drought and insect disturbance regimes (open) * Ecosystem consequences of changing disturbance regimes (Louis De Grandpré and co-authors, 15 min) * Boreal feedback to global climate change (open) * Adapting forest management practices to cope with these changes (open) Closing question period or discussion Please let me know if you will be able to participate in our session. We hope to see you in Salt Lake City in 2014. Best, Deepa Deepa Pureswaran, PhD Chercheuse scientifique // Research Scientist Écologie des insectes forestiers // Forest Insect Ecology Ressources naturelles Canada // Natural Resources Canada Service canadien des forêts // Canadian Forest Service Centre de foresterie des Laurentides // Laurentian Forestry Centre 1055, rue du PEPS Québec, QC G1V 4C7 Canada Téléphone: 418-648-7532 Fax: 418-648-5849 Website: http://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/employees/read/dpureswa