The Arafura and Timor Ecosystem Action (ATSEA) program is a multi-national agreement between Australia, Indonesia, and Timor Leste (East Timor). It was formed as part of the United Nations Global Environment Facility (GEF).

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The naming of the city of Darwin is an interesting case of premonition by a sailor. Port Darwin was named by Captain John Wickham in 1839 when the HMS Beagle sailed into Darwin Harbour as part of a survey of Australia's top end. Charles Darwin went on to become one of the most famous men in history, based on his theory of natural selection, the basis of evolutionary thought.

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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 Julia Fortune was the biologist leading the tour.

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The Integration and Application Network recently conducted an international collaboration with people from different organizations and locations in order to develop conceptual diagrams to be used in a booklet on Ecosystem Based Management ( Taking Steps toward Marine and Coastal Ecosystem-Based Management ). The project was supported by the United Nations Environment Programme and we had a short timeline to develop conceptual diagrams before it went to print.

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The Swan-Canning River is the estuary adjacent to Perth, the capital of Western Australia, and its seaport, Fremantle at the mouth. The Swan is famous for its iconic black swans and has dolphins that regularly swim up to the foreshore of the central business district of Perth. It supports seagrasses (black swan food), prawns and fish, but has some severe water quality problems.

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As part of the National Estuaries Network meeting, we had a field trip to the Peel-Harvey Estuary on 26 May 2011. This site is a globally significant ecological region for the following reasons: 1) Some of the most massive Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) ever recorded, occurred in the estuary, 2) A major intervention occurred in which a barrier island breach was constructed (the Dawesville cut), and 3) The occurrence of most of the globally significant HAB species.

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I had breakfast with Malcolm Robb, Western Australia Department of Water, and Professor Lyn Beazley, Western Australia Chief Scientist. We talked about a wide range of issues associated with science applications and education. Lyn is a vibrant and personable scientist who clearly advocates for science in Western Australia.

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Before my workshop and field trip with Project Catalyst, I had not heard of the following terms "dunder, mill mud, billets, ratoons, plant cane, shielded sprayers, cane grubs, controlled traffic, EM mapping, auger delivery, wavy discs, skip row planting, cane stool, bed renovation, cane cockies" and could not even have made an educated guess as to their meaning.

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On May 9, I attended a Project Catalyst Workshop at the Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre along the Central Queensland coast. The workshop was organized by Will Higham and his colleagues at Reef Catchments, and it included three dozen sugarcane growers from three sugar producing regions within the Great Barrier Reef catchment; Mackay/Whitsunday/Isaac region, Burdekin region and the Wet Tropics.

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There are several reasons that I have cause for optimism regarding the future of sugarcane impacts on the Great Barrier Reef: 1) the tinnies in the farm sheds, 2) the young cane growers, 3) the widespread adoption of high tech equipment for precision agriculture, 4) the innovative, can-do attitude of a group of cane growers, 5) a grower's statement that pesticides are "dirty, stinky, expensive, toxic crap", and 6) the engagement of Coca-Cola in Project Catalyst.

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