INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. and#8212; With Professor Warwick F. Vincent, Center for Northern Studies (CEN), Laval University, Quebec City, Canada, Thursday, Sept.15, 5:30 p.m., no-host bar. Program begins at 6 p.m. Cost is $5, to be held at the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences, 291 Country Club Drive, Incline Village, Nev.

The Arctic and parts of Antarctica are currently warming much faster than the rest of the world, and this trend is expected to accelerate over the course of the 21st century. Already there are ecological signs of change in both polar regions, with alterations of habitat, species distribution and food webs. This talk addresses the questions: how are Earthand#8217;s polar ecosystems changing, and toward what new state?

Professor Warwick Vincent is known internationally for his research on polar lakes, rivers and coastal seas, and the responses at the base of their food webs to environmental change. Originally from New Zealand, he did his PhD on the deep-water plankton of Lake Tahoe, as a student of Professor Charles R. Goldman at the University of California at Davis. He worked as a marine and freshwater research scientist in New Zealand and as Field Director for UC Davis at Lake Titicaca, Peru. He moved to Quebec City, Canada in 1990, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Ecosystem Studies at Laval University and is Director of the Centre for Northern Studies (CEN: Centre dand#8217;etudes nordiques). A past president of Canadaand#8217;s National Antarctic Committee and a founding member of the Canadian interdisciplinary research network ArcticNet, he has earned several honors for his contributions to research and education, including the Canadian Rigler Prize in Limnology.

and#8212; Submitted to aedgett@sierrasun.com