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 [...]
Continue Reading »July 2, 2011
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 [...]
Continue Reading »April 29, 2011
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 [...]
Continue Reading »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 [...]
Continue Reading »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 [...]
Continue Reading »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 [...]
Continue Reading »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 [...]
Continue Reading »March 30, 2010
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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