Clouds drifting slowly across the Bay … Lorikeets swooping and diving…

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When I arrived at the University of Queensland in 1992, someone in the Botany Department mentioned that there was a research station on Stradbroke Island. I had already borrowed the CSIRO boat to scout around Moreton Bay and realized that a research station at Straddie would be a wonderful place to base a field campaign.

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This newsletter was interesting to assemble, as it involved talking with lots of active scientists about their current knowledge of seagrasses, sea turtles and dugongs. The flood impacts on these Moreton Bay icons was of concern to everyone involved. I also made visits to eastern Moreton Bay where the densest concentrations of seagrasses, turtles and dugongs are found (see previous blogs: Feb. 16 & Apr. 6).

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Rum and coke with peanuts … We went to a sugarcane farm in North Eton operated by two cousins, Lee and Phil Blackburn. They are working with Project Catalyst, which is a Cola-Cola, World Wildlife Fund and Reef Catchments project in which sugarcane producers are experimenting with different ways to grow sugar using less nutrients and pesticides.

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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.

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The gold standard for scientific publication is known as 'peer review'. This refers to the established practice of sending manuscripts to appropriate experts who critically review the data, the analysis of the data, the conclusions drawn from the results and even the style and manner of communicating the findings.

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In order to guide people interested in creating a conceptual diagram, a worksheet has been developed by the Integration and Application Network. This worksheet is designed to aid in the assembly of relevant information needed for drafting a new conceptual diagram. The worksheet helps hone the message, prioritize the features and processes being depicted, and avoid false starts.

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Reef Catchments in Mackay, working with a range of partners, has produced a superb set of 'dashboard books' designed to ride around on the dashboards in volunteer rural fire brigade trucks or landholder trucks (utes) and provide easily accessible fire management information. Andrew Houley with Reef Catchments, a self-avowed firebug, produced these high quality books, which employ excellent science communication techniques.

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Based on a passage from the Bible in the book of Ecclesiastes, Bob Seeger combined words and music for the song "Turn, Turn, Turn", which was popularized by the musical group the Byrds.

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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 Dr. Steve Kelling from Cornell University.

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