News Archive

Visiting and local scientists revealed some of the research priorities that affect the Great Southern and South Coast at The Great Southern Great Science symposium.

Paul Wilkes, a geophysicist with CSIRO and Vice-Chairperson of Sustainable Energy Now, provided an update on the current status of geothermal, solar, wave and wind energy and their application to the Great Southern region.

Dr Brett Molony from the WA Department of Fisheries provided an overview of the monitoring and assessment of finfish resources in the South Coast Bioregion, and explained how science feeds into management of those resources.

Dr Pauline Grierson from The University of Western Australia explained how they had reconstructed rainfall records for southern WA using 400 years of tree ring chronology correlated with Chinese rainfall data to show that southern WA has been subject to frequent drought over recent centuries.

Other presentations from local scientists and professionals covered nationally significant work such as research on amphetamines and cancer-related fatigue, rehabilitation of seagrass, the management of soil organic carbon, and the ecology of fire.

One delegate enjoyed "hearing the latest understanding of numerous human endeavours over a range of subjects, and knowing that there are good scientists active in the region."

The delegates also appreciated the quality and multidisciplinary range of speakers.

"We were happy that the audience evaluations gave the conference an A-plus rating and they want to see this event repeated annually," said conference host Prof Peter Davies, Director of UWA Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management.

Media references

Randall Jasper 9842 0848