UPDATE: Videos of the presentations are available!
You can watch all videos in the viewer on the top right corner of this page, or select individual videos from the Youtube playlist here.
Dr Tracy Ainsworth
Tracy is a Senior Research Fellow in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. Tracy ’s research focuses on coral biology, host-microbe interactions, symbiosis, and the responses of these interactions to environmental change. This research aims to determine how host-microbe interactions influence organism physiology, adaptation and acclimation. Tracy’s research also investigates corals across diverse ocean habitats including shallow, mesophotic, deep and cold water systems, and she also investigates the microbial connectivity in the benthic habitat. Tracy was previously an ARC Super Science Fellow and ARC Postdoctoral Fellow in the Centre after completing her PhD at the University of Queensland.
Dr Michele Barnes
Michele is a U.S. National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow affiliated with the University of Hawaii, and is a visiting scholar at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. Her research has an applied, quantitative focus, drawing on methods and theories from sociology and economics to develop a better understanding of human behavior and associated outcomes in marine social-ecological systems. Her projects span the developed-developing world divide and cover a diverse range of contexts – from large-scale, commercially exploited systems, to small-scale, locally managed ones. Her current research topics include social-ecological linkages in marine and coastal systems; socio-cultural values tied to marine ecosystem services.
Dr Julia Blanchard
Julia is an Associate Professor in Ecology & Fisheries at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania. Her research seeks to understand how marine ecosystems work and respond to environmental change and human pressures, mostly from regional to global scales. This includes using a range of theoretical and empirical approaches from population, community, macro- ecology. She is also interested in interdisciplinary research to address issues in marine science, conservation and fisheries management, with the overarching goal of improving sustainability in the world’s oceans.
Dr Jessica Blythe
Jessica is a joint WorldFish/ARC Centre of Excellence postdoctoral research fellow. She completed a BSc from Memorial University in 2004 with a focus on juvenile cod behaviour. After spending a year living in Malawi, she switched from marine biology into the social sciences and completed a Masters from York University in 2009. Jessica earned her PhD from the University of Victoria in 2013, which investigated fishers’ resilience and vulnerability in coastal Mozambique. She uses social science methods to explore life in remote fishing communities in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Kiribati.
Dr Pim Bongaerts
Pim is the lead scientist on the Deep Reef component of the Catlin Seaview Survey and a research fellow on the DSITIA Accelerate Partnership Grant “Coral genomes along environmental gradients”. He uses next-generation sequencing approaches to study the biodiversity and connectivity of mesophotic reefs across the globe, with a major focus on the Great Barrier Reef, the Coral Sea and the Southern Caribbean. After completing a PhD at UQ in 2011, he completed a one-year post-doctoral fellowship at the School of Biological Sciences (UQ) based at the Heron Island Research Station.
Professor Philip Boyd
Philip is a marine biogeochemist at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic studies. He is a theme leader in the ARC-funded Antarctic Gateway (Open Water and Under Ice Foodwebs), and also leads a project in the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC on Biological Responses to Environment Change which is investigating the potential tipping points for ecosystems in the Southern Ocean. Boyd was a lead author on the IPCC AR5 chapter on Ocean Systems in Working Group 2.
Professor Sean Connolly
Sean is a Leader of Program 2: Ecosystem dynamics: Past, Present and Future in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. Sean combines mathematical and statistical modelling with fieldwork and laboratory experiments to study the dynamics of biological turnover at all scales, including ecophysiology, population dynamics, species interactions and biodiversity, and macroevolution. Sean has >70 publications in leading international journals, including 11 papers in Science or Nature, and he has supervised 25 postgraduate and Honours students. In 2008, he was awarded an ARC Australian Professorial Fellowship (2008-2012), and in 2009, the Fenner Medal of the Australian Academy of Science, which honours outstanding research in the biological sciences by a scientist under 40. Sean has also twice received a national Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, in 2006 and 2014, for his innovative and highly effective approaches to teaching ecological modelling to undergraduate students.
Dr Chris Cornwall
Chris is a Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia. He is a physiologist interested in the responses of macroalgae to ocean acidification, light, hydrodynamics and pH variability. He completed a PhD at the University of Otago in 2013 and has previously worked at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in Tasmania. His past work has largely used field-based macro-physiology, ecosystem modelling, and laboratory experiments to more accurately predict how temperate rocky reef ecosystems will respond to ocean acidification. His current research examines how organism physiology and the environment will interact to influence the response of calcareous macroalgae to ocean acidification and warming.
Professor Graeme Cumming
Graeme is a coral reef research leader in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. He recently joined the Centre from the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He has a diverse range of interests that are centered on the relevance of broad-scale pattern-process dynamics for ecosystem (and social-ecological system) function and resilience. His current research focuses on scale and the applications of landscape ecology and complexity theory to questions of the sustainability of natural resource management systems, particularly protected areas. His background is primarily in terrestrial and freshwater ecology and over the next few years he is hoping to find innovative ways of bridging some of the analytical gaps between marine and terrestrial landscapes.
Associate Professor Sophie Dove
Sophie is a Chief Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies undertaking research in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Queensland. She is an expert in the photobiology of reef-building corals and leads a growing laboratory that is focused on how the carbonate balance of reefs will fare under future warming and acidification. Her investigations on the carbonate balance of reefs monitor the responses of mesocosms, calcifers such as corals and bioeroders such as sponges.
Dr Sofia Fortunato
Sofia is a native of Venezuela who obtained a MSc. in Microbiology and a PhD in Evolutionary Developmental Biology at the University of Bergen, Norway. During her PhD she used genomics and transcriptomics to understand the evolution of developmental genes in sponges. Her future research will integrate ecology, genetics and developmental biology to expand knowledge on sponges associated with coral reefs. Her opening project will use genomic and transcriptomic data to compare the calcifying machinery in calcisponges with those of hard and soft coral, and how these systems respond to elevated CO2 and other human induced environmental stresses.
Dr Beth Fulton
Beth is a Principal Research Scientist with the CSIRO and a member of the Centre for Marine Socioecology at UTAS. she has broad interests across all facets of marine and coastal systems and uses models to take systems based thinking and management strategy evaluation to the topic of sustainable multiple use management of complex coastal socioecological systems. Beth has worked in systems from the tropics to the poles and is interested in lessons across those systems – such as the Implications of non-stationarity (global change) for practical integrated ecosystem based management, what are the impacts and interconnected feedbacks of global change?
Dr Alistair Hobday
Alistair received his BSc (Hons) from Stanford University in 1993 and his Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1998 and is now a Senior Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO. Much of his current research focuses on investigating the impacts of climate change on marine biodiversity and fishery resources, and developing, prioritising and testing adaptation options to underpin sustainable use and conservation into the future. He is co-chair of the international CLIOTOP (Climate Impacts on Top Ocean Predators) program, and contributed to the IPCC 4th and 5th assessment Australasia chapters, covering fisheries, oceanic and coastal systems.
Dr Mia Hoogenboom
Mia is a senior lecturer at James Cook University and a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. Mia grew up in Australia and spent time studying in Indonesia before moving to Townsville in 2001. After completing her PhD in 2008, she undertook postdoctoral research in Monaco and Glasgow before returning to the Centre. Her research focuses on understanding how physiological mechanisms influence the population dynamics of corals, the species composition of coral communities, and the overall productivity of reefs.
Professor Terry Hughes
Terry is the Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and an Australian Laureate Fellow (2012-2017). His research focuses on the linkages between the ecology of reefs and their importance for societies and economies. He has worked extensively in Australia, the Coral Triangle Region, and in the Caribbean. An important aspect of his research is understanding the dynamics and resilience of coral reefs, and translating this knowledge into innovative and practical solutions for improved reef management. Terry is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and the Beijer Institute for Ecological Economics, Stockholm. He is an ISI Highly Cited Researcher, and was recognized in 2008 by the International Coral Reef Society, with the award of the society’s Darwin Medal.
Professor Jeremy Jackson
Jeremy is Senior Scientist Emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution, Professor of Oceanography Emeritus at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Director of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network. He studies the ecology and evolution of ocean ecosystems and the impacts of human activities on ocean ecosystem services and human wellbeing. Jackson is author of some 175 scientific publications including 24 in Science and Nature and author or editor of ten books. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has received a dozen prizes and awards including the BBVA International Prize in Ecology and Conservation, The Paleontological Medal, and the Darwin Medal of the International Society for Reef Studies. Jackson’s work on historical overfishing and the collapse of coastal ecosystems was chosen by Discover magazine as the outstanding scientific achievement of 2001. His most recent book is Shifting Baselines: The Past and Future of Ocean Fisheries.
Professor Geoff Jones
Geoff is a Professor in the College of Marine and Environmental Sciences and a member of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University. He is one of the world’s most cited authors in the fields of coral reef ecology and marine conservation biology, with over 160 refereed scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals and books. His special interests are in the processes determining the structure and dynamics of reef fish populations, and strategies to reduce human impacts on threatened fish species. Jones and collaborators were the first to tag and recapture marine fish larvae. He has since become a world leader in the field of marine population connectivity and its implications for the ecology, conservation and management of reef fish populations.
Dr Janice Lough
Janice is a Senior Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science and a Partner Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Reef Studies. Trained as a climatologist at the Climate Research Unit (UK), her research interests focus on understanding the nature, causes and impacts of climate variability and climate change in tropical marine environments. She also specializes in obtaining historical perspectives on coral reefs and the significance of currently observed changes using the rich archive of proxy environmental information contained in long-lived massive coral skeletons.
Professor Ryan Lowe
Ryan is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow, a Professor at the University of Western Australia, and a Chief Investigator of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. He has a unique background in coastal oceanography and environmental engineering that enables him to tackle complex (and often multidisciplinary) research problems in coral reef systems. Major areas of research focus include: understanding how ocean dynamics drive physical and other environmental variability within coral reefs; how these dynamics influence a range of complex biophysical processes, and finally how these processes can be numerically predicted and accurately forecast into the future.
Dr Rebecca Martone
Rebecca is the Assistant Director for Science and Research at the Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, USA. Rebecca integrates natural and social science with policy and management to inform decisions affecting the health and resilience of marine environments. Prior to her position at the Center, Rebecca examined the productivity and diversity of kelp forest ecosystems in response to trophic cascades and the consequences for human communities as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia. In addition, she worked with Fisheries and Oceans Canada as the science coordinator for the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area planning process to develop a framework for examining cumulative effects from human activities to ecosystems in coastal British Columbia. Rebecca received a Ph.D. from Stanford University in biological sciences.
Professor Malcolm McCulloch
Malcolm is a Deputy Director of the ARC Centre and an Australian Laureate Fellow (2013-2018) at the University of Western Australia. Malcolm’s research interests focus on the modern part of the geologic record using isotopic and trace element geochemical methods to determine how climate and anthropogenic processes have influenced both past and present environments with particular emphasis on coral reefs. Malcolm has received a number of prestigious awards, most recently in 2010 he was elected as a Fellow to The Royal Society. In 2009 he was awarded the Jaeger Medal for his career achievement in the Earth Sciences and has Fellowships of the Australian Academy of Science (2004), the Geological Society of Australia (2007), the Geochemical Society (2008) and the American Geophysical Union (2002). Malcolm is an ISI Highly Cited Researcher and has published over 250 scientific papers in leading international journals including 23 in Science and Nature.
Dr David Mills
David is a senior scientist at WorldFish. Starting his research career as crustacean ecologist at the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, in 2006 David took a leap into the world of fisheries and development. Based at WorldFish Center headquarters in Penang, Malaysia from 2006 until early 2011, he worked on diverse projects relating to fisheries information systems, governance, fisheries and food security, and aquaculture development. He has worked on projects in Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana and Solomon Islands. David is a visiting scholar at the Centre, and has a degree in Marine, Freshwater and Antarctic Biology (1988 – 1992) and a PhD in fisheries ecology (2001-2005) from the University of Tasmania.
Dr Tiffany Morrison
Tiffany is a coral reef research leader in social sciences at the ARC Centre of Excellence. Her research focuses on understanding and improving the design of complex and multi-scalar environmental governance regimes. Her approach is based on the development of an empirical database of specific national cases and transnational trends across the US, Australia, and Asia. This systematic comparative approach has generated important contributions to governance theory and practice, particularly in the area of decentralisation, regionalisation and risk. Tiffany also works closely with a range of physical, natural, and social scientists and policymakers on inter- disciplinary approaches to complex environmental governance problems.
Professor Peter Mumby
Peter is a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence. He is a reef ecologist and uses both experimental and modelling approaches to answer questions about the functioning of coral reefs and the influence of management. His current research focuses on ecosystem resilience, processes influencing coral recovery, ecosystem-based fisheries, MPA network design, and the management of ecosystem services. Peter is a Pew Fellow of Marine Conservation and holder of an ARC Laureate Fellowship. In 2015, the International Society for Reef Studies awarded him a Fellowship and inaugural ‘Mid Career Scientist’ award in recognition of contributions to reef science in the last decade. Peter is happiest underwater.
Professor John Pandolfi
John is a Program Leader in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and is a Professor in the School of Biological Sciences, and Centre for Marine Science, The University of Queensland. He has broad research interests in marine palaeoecology, with emphasis on the effects of anthropogenic impacts and climate change on the recent past history of modern coral reefs. His research on the ecology of the Great Barrier Reef provides insight into how past marine ecosystems function in the absence of humans, providing reef managers with important historical context. He has published over 130 scientific articles in leading international journals, including Science and Nature. John currently holds an ARC Discovery Outstanding Researcher Award.
Professor Gretta Pecl
Gretta is an ARC Future Fellow, a previous Fulbright Fellow, and a Deputy Associate Dean of Research at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. She is also the current Editor in Chief of the Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries journal and a co-convenor of the Global Marine Hotspots Network. Much of her work is interdisciplinary in nature, aimed at addressing questions critical to both ecological understanding of our marine systems and sustainable management of resources. Her recent research activity spans a wide range of topics including species, population and fishery responses to climate change, development and evaluation of adaptation options to respond to climate change, and on using citizen science approaches for ecological monitoring and engagement (e.g. www.REDMAP.org.au). Gretta leads several large National and regional marine climate change projects at IMAS and has a strong commitment to science communication with the public and industry.
Professor Bob Pressey
Bob is a Program Leader in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. His research includes aspects of spatial data sets on biodiversity, geographic information systems, software development, and the socio-economic issues involved in implementing conservation action. During almost 20 years as a research scientist for the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service he developed and applied leading-edge techniques in conservation planning, influenced policy and conservation practice, and began a long series of international collaborations. In 2002 he was awarded The Royal Botanic Gardens’ Eureka Prize for Biodiversity Research. In 2008 he was awarded the inaugural Australian Ecology Research Award from the Ecological Society of Australia. His most recent recognition is being elected in 2010 as a Fellow to the Australian Academy of Science.
Dr Verena Schoepf
Verena is a postdoctoral research fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at the University of Western Australia. Verena obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Master’s degree in Zoology from the University of Innsbruck. She completed her PhD in Geological Sciences at The Ohio State University where she studied the impacts of combined climate change stressors on coral physiology and biogeochemistry. Her current research focuses on the physical and chemical controls on coral calcification and the response of coral reef systems generally to climate change using geochemical approaches.
Dr Bronte Tilbrook
Bronte is a biogeochemist with CSIRO and the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC. His research is focussed on on developing and utilising observing systems to determine the uptake and storage of carbon and acidification change in the ocean. The research extends from tropical reefs of Northern Australia to the Antarctic shelf, including research on the carbonate chemistry of the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef. He has been a significant contributor to international efforts to coordinate and improve understanding of ocean carbon cycling and acidification, serving on numerous international steering committees and working groups, and through working to develop global data and synthesis products such as the Surface Ocean Carbon Atlas and the Global Carbon Budget.
Professor Madeleine van Oppen
Madeleine holds a halftime position as a Senior Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), and a halftime Chair in Marine Biology at the University of Melbourne (School of BioSciences). Her research focuses on microbial symbiosis in corals, adaptation/acclimatisation to climate change, and connectivity of coral reefs. Her work is increasingly focusing on ‘assisted evolution’, where mechanisms of adaptation and acclimatisation in corals and genetic manipulations to enhance stress tolerance and fitness of corals in a changing environment are explored.
Dr Heather Veilleux
Heather is Postdoctoral Fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, in collaboration with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Heather’s research focuses on identifying the genomic mechanisms that allow some populations of coral reef fish to acclimate to climate change, with particular interest in epigenetic inheritance. More broadly, she uses next-generation sequencing and qRT-pCR to answer a range of questions relating to how climate change affects marine animals at the molecular level.
Peter Waldie
Peter is a PhD student in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and is interested in integrating contemporary ecosystem-based management programs into existing customary marine tenure systems, drawing on partnerships with international research institutions, NGOs, government departments and local communities. His work is focused on commercially important grouper spawning aggregations in Papua New Guinea – investigating relevant biological spatial scales for management (e.g. larval dispersal patterns and home ranges) alongside the spatial scales of existing governance systems (i.e. customary marine tenure systems).
Professor Reg A Watson
Reg is Professor of fisheries and ecological modelling at the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. His primary focus has been global fisheries and their interactions with marine ecosystems. He collaborates in global studies of marine biodiversity, economics of fishing and the impacts of fishing on birds and mammals. Currently his research includes global provenance tracing of seafoods, estimating maximum possible seafood production, and modelled mitigation explorations of impacts to future fisheries production of scenarios including climate change and local depletions.
Dr Sue-Ann Watson
Sue-Ann is a Research Fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. Her research focuses on the ecological effects of global change, particularly ocean acidification, and evolutionary responses to environmental gradients in marine organisms. Her broad research interests include ecology, behaviour, physiology and the potential for acclimation and adaptation to environmental change, particularly in marine invertebrates. Sue-Ann was awarded the 2014 Queensland Young Tall Poppy Scientist of the Year and in 2015 Sue-Ann was a finalist for the Macquarie University Eureka Prize for Outstanding Early Career Researcher.
Dr Rebecca Weeks
Rebecca is a Research Fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. Her research explores how to develop effective conservation planning strategies in regions with high resource dependence and decentralised management: the Coral Triangle and Pacific Islands. A central theme in her research is the importance of spatial scale; in particular, the need to resolve social-ecological scale mismatches, to ensure that local management actions have emergent properties that conserve ecological connectivity processes.
Professor Bette Willis
Bette is a Program Leader in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and a Professor in the College of Marine & Environmental Sciences at James Cook University. Her research addresses questions relating to the health of reef corals in an era of climate change and increasing anthropogenic impacts. Her current research strives to understand inter-kingdom symbiotic partnerships that underpin coral health, factors driving outbreaks of coral disease, and the potential for corals to acclimatise and adapt to a changing world. She is involved in several international working groups to further understanding of the ecology of infectious marine diseases and raise awareness of coral health issues throughout the Indo-Pacific.
UPDATE: Videos of the presentations are available!
You can watch all videos in the viewer on the top right corner of this page, or select individual videos from the Youtube playlist here.
Time: 6.00pm-7.00pm (5.30pm for refreshments)
Date: Tuesday 6th October 2015
Venue: Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hobart
Is the governance of the Great Barrier Reef really in trouble? Will fish be able to respond to rapid changes in their environment? What secrets do coral skeletons reveal? For answers to these questions and more, five internationally acclaimed scientists will each give a short presentation on a topic of critical importance to marine futures. This event is for everyone. Please join us for a lively discussion.
Host: Robyn Williams
Science journalist and broadcaster Robyn Williams presents Radio National’s The Science Show and Ockham’s Razor. A fascinating and engaging presenter, he infuses his presentations with wit and humour – and has the enviable ability to make science interesting and fascinating for almost anyone. In 1993 he was the first journalist elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. In 1988, he received an Honorary Doctorate in Science from the Universities of Sydney, Macquarie and Deakin and was appointed AM in the Australian Bicentenary Honours list. He was elected a National Living Treasure by the National Trust in 1987 and even has a star named after him by the Sydney Observatory.
Presenters:
Ask not what coral reefs can do for you.
Presented by Professor David Bellwood
Abstract:
Coral reefs are one of the most spectacular ecosystems on the planet, yet it is increasingly clear that reefs are suffering because of human activities. In this talk David will present a personal view of coral reefs and will examine the role of marine biologists in shaping our understanding of coral reefs, their evolution, ecology and future.
David is a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and a Distinguished Professor of Marine Biology at James Cook University. He has broad research interests in the evolution and ecology of coral reefs fishes, with over 220 articles in leading international journals. He pioneered the application of ecosystem function approaches to the study of coral reefs, and subsequently used these methods in the evaluation of ecosystem impacts of biodiversity loss and climate change. His current research focuses on developing new approaches to the management of coral reef ecosystems. Instead of documenting declines, his goal is to actively shape a better future for coral reefs and the people who depend on them.
Why is Shark Fin Soup consumption declining?
Presented by Dr Mike Fabinyi
Abstract:
Sharks are captured in huge numbers globally, in part to supply the Chinese market for shark fin soup. But in recent years the Chinese market for shark fin appears to have declined significantly. In this talk I will discuss the apparent decline in shark fin soup consumption in China, and some of the factors that are contributing to this decline.
Mike’s research broadly focuses on the social and political aspects of marine resource use and management in the Asia-Pacific. His research involves long-term fieldwork to examine how people understand and use marine resources, and how they respond to changing forms of governance. In China, he studies the drivers, trends and regional-scale effects of seafood consumption. In the Philippines, he examines the challenges and opportunities of the trade in marine resources for fishing households.
Coral skeletons out of the closet.
Presented by Dr Janice Lough
Abstract:
Sustained production of calcium carbonate skeletons is at the heart of healthy tropical coral reef ecosystems. Some corals form annual density bands, revealed by X-rays of coral slices, and continuously lay down skeleton over several hundred years – predating human and instrumental observations on reefs. Each growth band can be dated and provides insights into how fast the coral grew and events in the corals’ life. This talk will reveal some of the secrets that massive coral skeletons can tell us about living on a coral reef.
Janice is a Senior Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science and a Partner Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Reef Studies. Trained as a climatologist at the Climate Research Unit (UK), her research interests focus on understanding the nature, causes and impacts of climate variability and climate change in tropical marine environments. She also specialises in obtaining historical perspectives on coral reefs and the significance of currently observed changes using the rich archive of proxy environmental information contained in long-lived massive coral skeletons.
Reef Governance, the way forward.
Presented by Dr Tiffany Morrison
Abstract:
Australia’s governance of the Great Barrier Reef has evolved since 1975 into an internationally celebrated regime involving complex coordination across agencies, governments and boundaries. However, over the last few years scientists, the media, NGOs, government agencies, and even the World Heritage Committee have put reef governance under the spotlight. The question is, is the governance of the Reef really in trouble? What is the way forward? This talk will reflect on critical institutional developments in the life of the Reef and offer new empirical insights into the stability of reef governance.
Tiffany is a political geographer concerned with the design of complex and multi-scalar environmental governance regimes in the USA, Australia, and Asia. Her primary contributions have been in the area of decentralisation, regionalisation and risk. She works closely with a range of physical, natural, and social scientists and policymakers on inter-disciplinary approaches to environmental governance problems. Tiffany is a Social Science Research Leader in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.
Fish are remarkable athletes!
Presented by Dr Jodie Rummer
Abstract:
For hundreds of millions of years, the fishes have been surviving and thriving in nearly every body of water on the planet – habitats that span an array of environmental conditions. Indeed, being able to perform despite the challenges they face, the fishes are remarkable athletes! But, will their evolutionary history be enough to protect them from large-scale, rapid changes currently occurring in their habitats? On the Great Barrier Reef, we are tracking athletic capacity in fishes under different conditions, across development, by species, and over generations to determine how climate change will affect the future of marine ecosystems and biodiversity.
Jodie is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. In 2011, she was awarded an Australian Research Council Super Science Fellowship and she is currently on an early career ARC Discovery grant (DECRA). The research program she has developed addresses physiological and biochemical adaptations in coral reef fishes, including several species of sharks and rays with climate change. Jodie is also involved with science communication (@physiologyfish), has recently authored three chapters of Success Strategies from women in STEM: A portable mentor, and was just recently awarded a UNESCO-L’Oréal for Women in Science – Australia & New Zealand fellowship.
Introduction
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