Note: The location of the welcome function has been changed to Casa Cerveza on Drop St. in Stellenbosch due to an unexpected closure of the original venue.
World Conference on Natural Resource Modelling (WCNRM)
30 June – 3 July 2026
Conference Day 0: Tuesday, 30 June 2026
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09:00
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Field Trip
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18:00
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Welcome Function and Registration — Casa
Cerveza, 1 Drop St., Stellenbosch |
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20:00
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End of Day
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Conference Day 1: Wednesday, 1 July 2026
Theme: Climate, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Change
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Time
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Session / Event
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Authors
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Title
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08:30
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Welcome Tea and Registration
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09:00
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Keynote Speaker
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Lorien Pichegru
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A Decade of Science-Based Conservation for African Penguins – Lessons
Learnt |
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09:40
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Session 1
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Melissa Chapman
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Designing Robust Conservation and Restoration Strategies under
Sociopolitical Uncertainty |
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10:00
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Luc Doyen
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Bioeconomic Sustainability and Resilience of Biodiversity under
Invasive Species Pressures |
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10:20
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Adrian Lopes, Shadi Atallah, Koustuv Saha, Sahan Dissanayake
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Coexistence, Conflict, and Wildlife Spiritual Values among Indigenous
Herder |
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10:40
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Tea Break
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11:00
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Session 2
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Ben Wittenberg, Krystal Tolley, Res Altwegg, Michael Cramer
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Attributing the Causes of Population Trends of an Endangered
Amphibian in a Changing Fire Regime |
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11:20
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Sandra MacFadyen, Cang Hui, Astrid J.A. Van Teeffelen, Peter H.
Verburg |
Dynamic Interactions of Rainfall, Fire, and Mega-Herbivores in
Savanna Ecosystems |
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11:40
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Joe Millard
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Compounded Uncertainty of Ecosystem Service Risk under Environmental
Change |
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12:00
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Keynote Speaker
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Frankie Cho
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Natural Resource Management Strategies Must Be Robust to
Uncertainties |
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12:40
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Lunch (1 hour)
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Theme: Fisheries, Marine and Aquatic Systems
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Time
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Session / Event
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Authors
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Title
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13:40
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Keynote Speaker
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Wisdom Akpalu
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Modelling Illegal Behavior in Small-Scale Capture Fisheries in
Developing Economies |
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14:20
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Session 3
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Sipesihle Booi
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Economic Valuation Modelling of Estuarine Ecosystem Services
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14:40
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Pietro Landi, Cang Hui, Ulf Dieckmann
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Eco-Evolutionary Modelling of Fisheries under Environmental
Change |
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15:00
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Nokuthaba Sibanda, Charles T.T. Edwards, Marie-Julie Roux
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Data Integration and Zero-Inflated Biomass Modelling for
Low-Information Fish Species |
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15:20
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Tea Break
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15:50
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Session 4
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Leif Kristoffer
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Optimal Policy Contraction in Renewable Natural Resource
Economics |
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16:10
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Michael Kelly, Suzanne Lenhart
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Optimal Control of Coastal Fisheries in Heterogeneous Habitats
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16:30
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José M. Maroto
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Equilibrium and Transient Dynamics in Age-Structured Fish Population
Dynamics Models under Low Productivity and Age-Specific Survival Rates |
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16:50
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Carryn de Moor
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Managing the Fishery for South African Sardine during Periods of
Changes in Stock Structure Understanding |
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17:10–18:30
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Poster Session
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See poster list below
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Conference Day 2: Thursday, 2 July 2026
Theme: Modelling to Support Water and Coastal Management
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Time
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Session / Event
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Authors
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Title
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|---|---|---|---|
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08:30
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Welcome Tea
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09:00
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Keynote Speaker
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Jill Slinger
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Modelling to Support Ecosystem-Based Water and Coastal
Management |
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09:40
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Session 5
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Jai Clifford-Holmes
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From Catchments to Coasts to Net-Zero: 15 Years of System Dynamics in
South Africa |
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10:00
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Willem Kruip, Jill Slinger, Carles Ibáñez, Ferran Bertomeu, Floortje
d’Hont, Lieke Hüsken |
Modelling the Systemic Effects of Nature-Based Solutions in the Ebro
Delta |
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10:20
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Jane Tanner, Sinetemba Xoxo, David Gwapedza, Denis Hughes
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Participatory Water Allocation Modelling in a Semi-Arid, Intensively
Farmed Catchment with Water Conflicts |
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10:40
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Tea Break
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11:00
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Session 6
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Sinetemba Xoxo, Jane Tanner, David Gwapedza, Olivier Barreteau
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Modelling and Gaming to Support Equitable Water Sharing under
Uncertainty |
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11:20
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Deepanjali Prasad, Alethea Barbaro, Salah Alrabeei, Sam Subbey
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Combining Bioenergetics and Individual-Based Models: A Review of
Forage Fish Modelling |
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11:40
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Alethea Barbaro, Bjorn Birnir
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Modelling the Capelin – An Indicator Species for Climate
Change |
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12:00
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Susan Taljaard, Jill Slinger, Steven Weerts, Heleen Vreugdenhil,
Cebile Nzuza |
Bridging Global Metrics and Local Realities: A Modelling Framework
for Sustainability in Ports |
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12:20
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Sergei Schreider, Mayya Podsosonnaya, Maria Schreider
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Logistic Regression Modelling of Blue-Green Algae Bloom in Estuary
Lagoons |
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12:40
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Lunch (1 hour)
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Theme: Methods, Modelling and Decision Tools
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Time
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Session / Event
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Authors
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Title
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|---|---|---|---|
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13:30
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Keynote Speaker
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Charlotte Gerling
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Climate-Ecological-Economic Modelling for a Better Future for
Biodiversity |
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14:10
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Session 7
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Bernard Cazelles
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Reducing Practical Non-Identifiability in Epidemic Models Using
Time-Series Approaches |
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14:30
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Luz Pascal, Matthew Holden, Katriona Shea, Shouli Li
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Assessing the Value of Information for Multi-Model Environmental
Decision-Making |
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14:50
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Stacey Smith?
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Early Warning Signals for Infectious Diseases Using a Social-Media
Compartmental Model |
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15:10
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Ilse Kotzee
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Modelling Hydrological Connectivity to Improve Flood Risk Management
and Planning |
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15:30
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Tea Break
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Theme: Environmental Economics, Policy and Governance
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Time
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Session / Event
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Authors
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Title
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|---|---|---|---|
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15:50
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Session 8
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Christopher Stapenhurst, Charlotte Gerling
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Relative Performance Payments for Biodiversity Conservation under
Asymmetric Information |
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16:10
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Thorsten Upmann, Stefan Wrzaczek, Michael Kuhn
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Designing Environmental Policy under Deep Uncertainty and Limited
Information |
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16:30
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Dieter Koemle, Yvonne Stickler, Christoph Tribl, Sebastian
Lakner |
Effects of Natura 2000 Designation on Farm Efficiency and Land-Use
Decisions |
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16:50
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Agnieszka Wiszniewska-Matyszkiel, Silvia Faggian, Dominika
Machowska |
Partial Cooperation in Resource Extraction Games on Networks
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17:10
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Andrew Robinson
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Making More of Models: Off-Label Uses for Biosecurity and
Environmental Decision Support |
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17:30
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Nelson Ndakolute Ndahangwapo, Djiby Thiam, Ariel Dinar
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Groundwater Management and Land Subsidence Impacts on
Groundwater-Dependent Ecosystems |
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17:50
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End of Day
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18:30–21:00
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Conference Dinner — La Pineta Restaurant
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Conference Day 3: Friday, 3 July 2026
Theme: Climate, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Change
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Time
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Session / Event
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Authors
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Title
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|---|---|---|---|
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08:30
|
Welcome Tea
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09:00
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Keynote Speaker
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Joel Brown
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Using Evolutionary Game Theory to Manage Evolving Resources, Pests
and Even Cancer |
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09:40
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Session 9
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Karol Bronisz
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Taper Models for Climate-Smart Forest Management under Changing
Environmental Conditions |
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10:00
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Luiza Tymińska-Czabańska, Krzysztof Leszczyński, Piotr Janiec,
Jarosław Socha |
Spatial Scaling of Drought Impacts on Forest Mortality Using Remote
Sensing and Field Data |
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10:20
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Jarosław Socha, Vahid Nasiri, Luiza Tymińska-Czabańska, Piotr Janiec,
Jakub — |
Greening Without Growth: Canopy Recovery Masks Stem Growth Loss After
Drought |
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10:40
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Session 10
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Krishna Paudel, Madhusudan Bhattarai, Archana Timsina, Stephen
Devadoss, Nathan Holtman |
Modelling the Interactions between Deforestation and Agricultural
Expansion |
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11:00
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Tea Break
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11:20
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Stephan van der Westhuizen, Khaled Masoumifard
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Modelling Compositional Environmental Variables with a
Dirichlet-Based Random Forest Approach |
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11:40
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Jack Jansma
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Interaction networks and community dynamics shape the microbial
responses to different resource regimes |
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12:00
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Izni Zahidi, Ewilly Liew, Erniel Barrios, Aznie Rahim
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Building Climate-Resilient Communities through Integrated
Water-Energy-Food-Environment (WEFE) Nexus Modelling |
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12:20
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Sturla Kvamsdal, Yuanming Ni, Leif Sandal
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Downward drag effects on natural capital asset prices under
uncertainty |
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12:40
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Hugo Retief, Jai Clifford-Holmes, Henry Roman, Mariangel Garcia
Andarcia |
An AI-Driven Digital Twin for Water Management in the Limpopo River
Basin, Southern Africa |
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13:00
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Closing Remarks
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Matt, Julie, Cang, and John
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13:30
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Lunch (1 hour)
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14:30
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End of Conference
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Poster Presentations
1. Kate Helmstedt
2. Matthew Holden
3. Cang Hui
4. Chris Laubscher-Pretorius
5. Alexandre Lhuisset
6. Richard Pretorius
7. Alexander Rogers
8. Jesper Stage
9. Nils Walper
10. Dieter Koemle
2. Matthew Holden
3. Cang Hui
4. Chris Laubscher-Pretorius
5. Alexandre Lhuisset
6. Richard Pretorius
7. Alexander Rogers
8. Jesper Stage
9. Nils Walper
10. Dieter Koemle