Professor Manfred Boelter

Man and Nature in the Northern Polar Regions -
Reactions to Climate Change

Professor Boelter presented a free public seminar entitled 'Man and Nature in the Northern Polar Regions- Reactions to Climate Change' at the University of Adelaide on 19 October 2010.

Global warming expresses its greatest effects in the polar regions. The areas of north Scandinavia are affected in various ways, by changes in ecology, followed by new forms and land use, e.g., new ways of animal herding, tourist affairs and increasing industries, which subsequently raise problems in sociological affairs.

Since 2002, studies in northern Finland have been performed with the aim to analyse these changes from different perspectives. The main topics of this talk was the ecological consequences of increased land use perspectives for the total landscape and peoples of this area.

Professor Boelter studied Microbiology, Zoology and Chemistry at the University of Kiel, where he attained degrees in Microbiology and his PhD in Marine Microbiology. Professor Boelter was Associate Professor at the University of Kiel up until 2003 and Director of the Institute for Polar Ecology until 2009.