This public lecture is part of the week-long Lorentz Center workshop ‘Merging biology and geology to study island biodiversity‘.
Why study islands? An introduction to the insular animal world.
Although islands together make up only about 6.7% of the world’s total above-water surface, they contributed with an outstanding 20% to the global biodiversity.
Unfortunately as well with 50% of the threatened species and up to 75% of the species extinctions known since the European expansion throughout the world. Amongst them; volcanic islands, continental fragments and tropical land-bridge islands are by far the islands with the largest contribution to global biodiversity and also to species threatened or extinct.
Islands are the place where the sixth mass extinction -the one attributable to human activity- is currently happening. To understand how species adapt or go extinct as island environments change, integrating biology and geology is crucial. This lecture will explore what we have learned and what research is being done to prevent an even worse outcome.
This public lecture is part of the week-long Lorentz Center workshop ‘Merging biology and geology to study island biodiversity‘.
About the speaker
José María Fernández-Palacios has been a Full Professor of Ecology at the University of La Laguna in Spain since 2011, and the coördinator of the Island Ecology and Biogeography Research Group at the same university. His research focuses include: Island Ecology and Biogeography, Laurisilva and Pine Forest Dynamics, Paleoecology, Functional island Biogeography and Carbon Sequestration. He has authored around 300 publications, as well as a dozen books related to Island Ecology in general and the Canary Islands in particular. He has secured approximately 1 million euros over the last 10 years through competitive grants and research contracts as the Principal Investigator. He is the current President of the Society of Island Biology (SIB).
Practical information
When: Tuesday the 11th of November 2025. The lecture will be from 19.00 to 20.00 hrs. Please note, the museum exhibits will be closed this evening.
Where: In the lecture hall of the museum
Language: English
Cost: Attending the lecture is free with a museum ticket (you can purchase a museum ticket at the museum desk, when you have a student card/Museumcard it’s completely free of charge). Check our website for ticket information.
Register: Please register via the button below.
