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July 2, 2011

Queenscliff, Bellarine peninsula and Victoria embayments

At the invitation of Dr. Andy Longmore, Victoria Department of Primary Industries, Kate Moore and I traveled to Queenscliff on the Bellarine peninsula at the mouth of Port Phillip Bay. We stayed in a wonderful, cosy bed and breakfast in Queenscliff called the Athelstane House and worked in the Department of Primary Industries Queenscliff Centre [...]

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June 12, 2011

Natural gas, live cattle, algal blooms & crocodiles: Darwin Harbour field trip

On June 1, I boarded the ‘Beaglet’, a Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport (NRETA) boat for a Darwin Harbour field trip. I enjoyed the naming reference to the famous ship ‘Beagle‘ that Charles Darwin sailed around the world, including his famous visit to the Galapagos Islands. The boat skipper was Matt Majid and [...]

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April 29, 2011

Mackay field trip #1: Lagoons, champions and mangroves

Uncovering a lost lagoon The Sandringham lagoon case study was described by Tim Marsden from the Queensland Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI). Standing in front of the lagoon, Tim showed before and after photos and described the process of clearing the weeds that completely choked the lagoon. The lagoon had become completely [...]

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April 18, 2011

TERN workshop

I was asked by Prof. Stuart Phinn from the University of Queensland to give a keynote lecture at the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) Symposium 2011 in Melbourne, Victoria. There were approximately 100 scientists and resource managers at the symposium held at a conference center near the University of Melbourne. The other keynote speaker was [...]

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March 25, 2011

Discussion following Andrew Muller and Diana Muller seminar on Emerging hypoxia trends in the South River

This blog post discusses the seminar given by Andrew and Diana Muller at the IAN Seminar Series on August 31, 2010. Pierre Henkart noted that the Severn River had persistent anoxia between June and September which includes noticeable hydrogen sulfide and asked why the South River anoxia was not as pronounced or persistent. Andrew and [...]

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February 25, 2011

Two Guys and a Tinny: Conducting estuarine assessments

I had the opportunity to catch up with Steven Walker, the Executive Dean of the newly formed Faculty of Science at the University of Queensland. Years ago, Steven and I worked on an interesting project which was to assess the health of the 1000+ Australian estuaries as part of the National Land and Water Resources [...]

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October 18, 2010

Discussion following Margaret Palmer and Lisa Wainger seminar on Evidence-Based Restoration: Promoting Successful Restoration through Effective Monitoring and Adaptive Management

This blog post discusses the seminar given by Margaret Palmer of the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, at the IAN Seminar Series on September 30, 2010. This seminar was presented by Dr. Margaret Palmer, but both Drs. Palmer and Wainger participated in the discussion following the seminar. The issue that measuring the effectiveness of restoration projects is [...]

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September 3, 2010

Discussion following Bill Dennison’s seminar on Challenges and advantages of using citizen scientists for environmental monitoring

This blog post discusses the seminar given by Bill Dennison of the Integration and Application Network, at the IAN Seminar Series on July 27, 2010. The use of smart phones by citizen scientists to access the eco-hub portal was discussed and the issue of a) lack of coverage and b) limited availability to some citizen [...]

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March 30, 2010

Trip to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; 29 March 2010

“Perspectives on NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Data and Modeling for Chesapeake Bay Research and Applications” workshop NASA scientists initiated a meeting with Chesapeake Bay scientists to compare the remote sensing needs for Chesapeake Bay research, monitoring, modeling and management with the capabilities that NASA remote sensing programs can provide. The workshop goals were to coordinate [...]

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Discussion following Sara Powell seminar on Getting out of the Lake and into the Watershed: a study of volunteer monitoring efforts, water quality, and community outreach

This blog post discusses the seminar given by Sara Powell, of the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, at the IAN Seminar Series on February 25, 2010. The issue of what constitutes a citizen scientist was discussed, and several issues regarding data quality assurance were raised. The turnover of different citizen scientists means that ongoing training was necessary. Mechanisms [...]

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