Some Previous Seminars

Title: Selenium, Tibet and Yaks
Presented by: Prof Nick Costa, School Dean, Environmental Science

Title: Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems: Lessons from the Field
Presented by: Isabella Jennings, PhD Candidate, Environmental Science
Overview
Isabella Jennings will discuss some of her PhD findings on barriers and facilitators to change from her interviews with sustainability practitioners in Perth. This will be combined with reflections from a year of work in local government and her own personal PhD journey.

Title: Production perennials in agricultural landscapes: what they can - and can not - do for biodiversity.
Presented by: Dr Patrick Smith, Research Scientist, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems
Overview
The revegetation of Australia’s agricultural landscapes with trees and other perennial plants is considered a key priority for a range of environmental outcomes, including salinity management and biodiversity conservation. New farming systems based on native perennial plants (e.g. oil mallee farming systems) are therefore promoted as ‘win-win’ options since they have both production and conservation outcomes. This seminar will explore the concept of ‘win-win’ land use systems in this context and present results from recent research into the biodiversity values of oil mallee farming systems to investigate possible limits to biodiversity gains from perennialized agriculture.

Title: A Framework for Capacity Development
Presenter: Davina Boyd, PhD Candidate, Murdoch University
Overview
Capacity development has long been considered a cornerstone of development. While the development industry’s commitment to capacity development has been fraught with debate about its ambiguous nature and lack of associated success, after more than thirty-years of experience, there is now widespread agreement that capacity development is a priority. There is also renewed understanding that an alternative development paradigm is at the core of capacity development and core principles and good practice guidelines are emerging. However, although there has been a transformation in thinking, the development industry is entrenched in existing practices. In this seminar I will present an overview of my PhD research which has looked at ways to improve capacity development practice by integrating renewed thinking into existing practices.

Title: Baby Giants: chasing Larval Bluefin Tuna in the Gulf of Mexico
Presented by: Dr Barbara Muhling (NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service, Miami, USA)
Summary: Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) is an iconic species, which has supported significant and lucrative fisheries on both sides of the Atlantic. However, biomass and recruitment have both declined markedly over previous decades, with eastern and western Atlantic populations now listed as endangered. Despite their importance, many gaps remain in the understanding of the spawning and migration habits of Atlantic bluefin. Adults are capable of long migrations, and tagged individuals have been shown to make trans-Atlantic crossings, however spawning has only been recorded in the Gulf of Mexico, and certain areas of the Mediterranean. The Gulf of Mexico is the only known bluefin tuna spawning ground in the western Atlantic, with peak spawning activity in May. Annual spring plankton surveys targeting larval bluefin have been completed across a grid of stations in the northern Gulf since 1977, and the resulting abundance index has been used to refine bluefin tuna population estimates, which are critical to understanding the dynamics of this valuable species. However, as few bluefin tuna larvae are typically caught in the spring surveys, variance in the index is currently high. This study is working to reduce the variance in estimates of adult Atlantic bluefin tuna spawning stock abundance in the Gulf of Mexico by linking larval abundance to environmental data, derived from both in-situ sampling and satellite data. With this information, we aim to design models forecasting where concentrations of larvae are likely to occur, leading to a more adaptive sampling strategy than the current fixed grid design. This information will also help to explain variability in the habitat available for spawning each year, and potential effects of environmental conditions on spawning timing and duration. In addition to bluefin tuna, larvae of more than 500 other taxa were identified over the 30 years of surveys. It has therefore been possible to examine temporal and spatial patterns in the entire larval fish assemblage across the northern Gulf of Mexico. Changes in assemblages can be related to environmental and climatic variables, and will help to describe variability in northern Gulf of Mexico planktonic communities over a long time period.

Title: Pulling the plug on the ocean! Hyperspectral remote sensing of the marine benthic habitats of Rottnest Island
Presented by: Matt Harvey, PhD Candidate, Env Science, Murdoch University
Summary: The introduction of new, high resolution hyperspectral sensors has led to growing interest in the development of techniques to utilise data from these instruments for mapping the shallow marine environment. Hyperspectral data allows for the mapping of habitats in shallow areas that are inaccessible to other methods such as hydro-acoustic mapping.  The clear nearshore waters (<15 m) surrounding Rottnest Island, Western Australia, provided a unique opportunity to map temperate marine benthic habitats using hyperspectral imaging techniques.  Three flight lines of HyMap hyperspectral data flown for the Rottnest Island Reserve in April 2004 were corrected for atmospheric effects, sunglint and the influence of the water column using the Modular Inversion and Processing System which requires no inputs from parameters measured in the field.  A library of spectral signatures created from in-situ measurements of the dominant habitat components was created.  A decision tree based classification scheme was designed, based of the hierarchical habitat classification developed for Rottnest Island,   in which a range of spectral similarity measures, in combination with results of spectral separability of the in-situ spectral signatures, were used to map the different habitat components identified in the bottom reflectance image.  This technique distinguished between bare sand, reef with large macroalgae, such as Ecklonia radiata and Sargassum spp., and a number of different seagrass species and thus provided a platform for the mapping shallow marine benthic habitats over a broad area, at a scale relevant to marine planners and managers.

Title: R360º sabbatical: people, places, projects and papers
Presented by: Assoc. Prof. Lynnath Beckley, Marine Science, Murdoch University
With apologies for my carbon footprint, I will present an illustrated synopsis of my around-the-world sabbatical. The travelogue part will highlight colleagues, marine science institutions and places visited in New Zealand, USA, Canada, UK and South Africa. The science part will cover the eclectic mix of projects and publications pertaining to oceanography, fisheries, marine resource usage, biodiversity metrics and conservation planning that I worked on during this period. Fasten your seatbelts, lifejackets are under your seats and oxygen masks will descend if necessary!
Lynnath Beckley is an Associate Professor in Marine Science at Murdoch University. She has a PhD from the University of Cape Town.

Title: International Coral Reef Symposium (Florida July 2008): Report-back
Presented by: Assoc Prof Lynnath Beckley, Claire Smallwood, Fiona Webster, Dr Halina Kobryn & Dr Mike van Keulen (Murdoch University)
Every four years the coral reef scientists of the planet gather to discuss their latest findings. This year, 3 500 people attended the meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. There were many parallel sessions, poster sessions, exhibitions and workshops and, in fact, it was physically impossible to attend >10% of the programme! However, as several Murdoch staff & students made the trip to the other side of the world, and attended a diverse array of different sessions, we have decided to hold a report-back seminar to try and synthesize the vast amount of information at this meeting. So, if you are interested in topics like ocean acidification, coral diseases, remote sensing, social-ecological systems, reef fisheries, connectivity, reef restoration, resilience and reef management come along to our panel seminar.

Title: Renovating for the future: Enhancing environmental outcomes in housing improvement.
Presented by: Dr Martin Anda, Senior Lecturer, Environmental Science, Murdoch University
This proposed research for ARC with RMIT will build on the ETC history in water and energy efficiency technologies and will seek to develop a framework for assessment. The presentation will show key technologies and approaches that home renovators can consider. It will also consider the benefits that a broadscale approach could bring to Perth.
Dr Martin Anda BE, BSc(Hons), PhD Murd. Some of Martin's interests are in liquid waste recycling, solid waste recycling, energy efficiency in buildings and human settlements, sustainable development, governance and environmental technology in Australian indigenous communities and permaculture.

Title: Geotourism and the interpretation of landscapes that don’t speak to us
Presented by: Dr David Newsome, Senior Lecturer, Environmental Science, Murdoch University
David will explain what geotourism is and ways to overcome the challenge of interpreting some of the most featureless terrain on Earth.
David Newsome is a senior lecturer in the School of Environmental Science at Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia. His principal research interests are geotourism, human-wildlife interactions and the biophysical impacts of recreation and tourism. David’s research and teaching focus on the sustainable use of landscapes and the assessment and management of recreational activity in protected areas. David is the lead author of two books Natural Area Tourism: ecology, impacts and management and Wildlife Tourism and co-editor of Geotourism a book which lays the foundation for the emergence of geotourism as a distinct discipline within the area of natural area tourism.

Title: buFex – devil in the dust
Presented by: Professor Tom Lyons, Professor of Environmental Science, Murdoch University
In the southwest of Western Australia, the large scale replacement of native perennial vegetation with agriculture based on winter growing annual species leads to a significant change in the surface albedo and roughness. Whilst the
redistribution of the surface energy balance impacts on cloud climatology, the reduced roughness of the agricultural area has enhanced the injection of aerosols into the atmosphere through the increased potential for dust devils. Although the native vegetation experiences a higher sensible heat flux, it is the reduced frictional drag of the cleared agricultural lands that enhances the potential for dust devil formation and thus provides an additional source of atmospheric aerosols.

Title: Decision making with "Ecological Risk Analysis"
Presented by: Dr. Gernot STÖGLEHNER University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna
The seminar introduces a decision making method widely used in the German speaking assessment world in Environmental Impact Assessment or Strategic Environmental Assessment, but seems to be hardly known in English speaking countries. This method brings together the sensitivity of environmental issues against impairment as well as the intensity of the impairment caused by human activities as the ecological risk. Thereby, the ecological risk analysis uses ordinal scaled data, which may be aggregating by “decision trees” or “preference matrices”, or other ways of ordinal scaling and scoring.

Title: Strategic Environmental Assessment in Austria
Presented by: Dr. Gernot STÖGLEHNER University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna
Strategic Environmental Assessment was introduced in the Member States of the European Union (EU) when the “Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment” (Strategic Environmental Assessment – SEA) went into force on June 27th, 2001 and had to be implemented by the Member States before July 21st, 2004. This seminar briefly outlines the main objectives and provisions of the SEA-Directive and gives an overview on the SEA-implementation in Austria. The main part of the seminar focuses on SEA in the context of spatial planning, the main field of SEA-application in Austria reflecting SEA-processes and outcomes.

Title: Reproductive biology of two contrasting plant species of the Andean Alps
Presented by: Dr Phil Ladd, Environmental Science, Murdoch University
Dr Ladd has just returned from OSP and will share some of the findings from his research.
Phil says: "I have been at Murdoch for an awfully long time (since 1986) and have eclectic botanical research interests ranging from palynology through plant reproductive ecology, floral morphology, plant population and community ecology".

Title: Managed Aquifer Recharge With Discharge To Artificial Wetlands (MARDAW), Capel
Presented by: Dr Bill Scott, Emeritus Associate Professor
Managed Aquifer Recharge with Discharge to Artificial Wetlands (MARDAW) is an up-market version of the natural way that wetlands and wetland ecosystems process wastewater. Capel townsite is in one of the fastest growing regions of WA and has had difficulties handling their sewage effluent.  Treated sewage water may soon be discharged into the nearby wetlands, the Capel Wetland Centre (CWC), a chain of about 15 lakes constructed from old mining pits.  The nutrient levels at the CWC are insufficient; the lake bottoms have a large absorption capacity with metres of metasediments; the lakes are in hydraulic connection with the superficial groundwater system. This presents an ideal arrangement to reclaim the wastewater while enhancing the environmental quality, perhaps even allowing greater water use.
Consultants for the Water Corporation originally guessed that the lake system would be nutrient-saturated in about 5 years.  However they did not properly include effects from groundwater and metasediments. At Hydropolis I presented a simple water and nutrient balance in Excel that showed better expectations.  A balance which recognised the displacement of water in individual lakes, by groundwater; an analytical element model quantifies groundwater throughflow.  With displacement, dilution and confinement by groundwater, the system may remove 85% of the nitrogen and 70% of the phosphorus for a 10 year period. Further, adding a detailed absorption model for phosphorus presents even more capability; it is possible that a chain of three lakes could be close to sustainable as a receiver for wastewater.  Proper implementation of MARDAW may reclaim the wetlands as suitable ecosystems that require minimal intervention.

Title: Performance of Mesocosm-Scale Sulphate Reducing Bioreactors to Treat Acid Mine Drainage in New Zealand
Presented by: Dr Aisling D. O'Sullivan, Hydrological and Ecological Engineering Group, Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Numerous catchments on the West Coast of the South Island in Aotearoa (New Zealand) are impacted from acid mine drainage (AMD) originating from both active and historical coal mining. The AMD signature typically contains high concentrations of acidity and metals (predominantly iron and aluminium).  As a result, biodiversity and ecological health has been significantly impaired. Monitoring of the AMD emanating from overburden stockpiles at the research field site of an active mine for a period of ten months revealed a range of elevated iron (4.30-146 g/m3), aluminium (7.24-58.7 g/m3) and total acidity (77.7-626 g/m3) concentrations. These data prompted laboratory mesocosm studies measuring the effectiveness of sulphate-reducing bioreactors (SRBRs) for generating alkalinity and sequestering metals from AMD of this type.
Bioreactors represent a developing technology for sequestering metals and reducing sulphate concentrations commonly associated with AMD. Seven bioreactors (4 LDPE trapezoidal prism 337 L containers and 3 HDPE cylindrical 138 L drums) were established in a laboratory and operated for a period of four months to investigate relationships between metal and sulphate removal from a continuous AMD feed sourced from the actual mine site. Six substrate mixtures utilizing predominately industrial waste products from the forestry and mussel farming industries and two flow configurations were evaluated.
Results indicated that bioreactors containing mussel shells outperformed all other systems and sequestered 0.81 moles metals/m3 of substrate/day once systems had equilibrated. Effluent removal efficiencies of 96.5-99.8% Fe, 99.5-99.9% Al, and 98% acidity were seen. Duplicate (substrate mixtures) systems of different reactor dimensions were influenced by flow hydraulics and hence treatment efficacy. Overall, the treatment performance of these bioreactors exceeded recommended design criteria used for similar systems overseas. This may be attributed to the incorporation of mussel shells as a reactive alkalinity producing material as well as a diversity of labile and recalcitrant waste carbon sources. Additionally, hydraulic conductivity testing indicated moderate to high permeability in these systems which would deter potential plugging. Pilot-scale systems are currently being evaluated at the mine site and these designs have been refined from results of the laboratory studies.

Title: Research to support visitor impact monitoring in protected areas: Status and prospects
Presented by: Associate Professor Yu-Fai Leung, Department of Park Recreation and Tourism Management, North Carolina State University
The value and utility of visitor impact monitoring is increasingly recognized by protected area managers and scientists worldwide. In the United States, visitor management frameworks such as Visitor Experience and Resource Protection (VERP) and Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) contain an integral component of visitor impact monitoring. The need for visitor impact monitoring is also being advocated for ecotourism destinations, World Heritage sites, and other ecologically or culturally significant areas. Despite such recognition, methodology and practice of visitor impact monitoring is still far from a mature and standardized stage. This presentation will examine the state-of-knowledge of this research area and highlight some recent developments in impact monitoring research. Topics covered include sampling, indicator development, monitoring techniques, impact indices, and application of geospatial technologies. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of future prospects and challenges.

Title: Post-graduate Seminars

• Presenter: Cinnamon A'si'yih
  Title: Integrated Water Management at Murdoch University
  
• Presenter: Jason Levitan
  Title:  Die-off of pathogens and assessment of risks following biosolids application in Pine Forests
  

Title: Conserving wetlands: can research make a difference?
Presented by: Associate Professor Jenny Davis, School of Environmental Sciences, Murdoch University
This seminar is an updated version of the address that Jenny gave when presented with the Limnology Medal at the joint conference of the Australian Society for Limnology and the New Zealand Freshwater Sciences Society held in Queenstown, NZ in December 2007.
 Most freshwater ecologists truly appreciate the environmental values of aquatic ecosystems. Many will have chosen ecology as a career because of their desire to better understand how aquatic systems function and to promote their conservation and protection. However, for many of us, our work has spanned an era in which the rate of loss and degradation of these systems has reached unprecedented levels. The demands of a rising global population with its ever-increasing need for water for human uses, combined with multiple stressors including salinisation, acidification, eutrophication, sedimentation, invasive species and habitat loss, now overlain by climatic uncertainty, means that our work in the next decade may be the most critical ever. So where should we direct our efforts?  Can research make a difference or should we re-train as communicators, policy advisers or green activists?  This seminar will explore these questions from a background of research projects undertaken in Western Australia, central Australia and Tasmania.

Title: Restoration technologies to improve the grazing capacity of degraded arid- and semi-arid rangelands in South Africa
Presented by: Professor Klaus Kellner, School of Environmental Sciences and Development, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa, 2520. E-mail: Klaus.Kellner@nwu.ac.za
About 80% of the total land area of South Africa is regarded as rangelands of which most are arid- or semi-arid. The semi-arid rangelands form the most important live-stock enterprise and therefore also the single most important economic resource in three of the largest biomes in southern Africa, i.e. Karoo, Grassland and Savanna. Rangeland degradation mainly occurs due to an over-estimation of the grazing capacity, followed by incorrect grazing management strategies. It is estimated that approximately 66% of the rangelands are moderately to severely degraded and many have passed the thresholds of “self recovery”. Once irreversible transitions have occurred, restoration practices have to be implemented to assist the recovery of these degraded ecosystems. In most cases, the general aim of restoration is to increase the biodiversity for higher resilience, increase the vegetation cover to combat erosion and to improve the production potential for a higher grazing capacity. Restoration procedures include both active (burning, clearing, re-seeding and cultivation) and passive technologies (withdrawal of livestock/game). All these technologies are very complex and the connection between ecological succession and ecosystem services over time have to be addressed. The challenge is to investigate which technologies are most suitable for mitigating the poor environmental conditions, especially low rainfall and anthropogenic impacts that are responsible for the degradation in different livestock production systems.
Depending on the degree of degradation, selected restoration technologies were introduced in the main types of land-use systems found in South Africa, i.e. commercial, communal and game/conservation. In bare, denuded and heavily degraded areas, active technologies were applied, which included one or a combination of technologies, such as re-seeding with indigenous, ecotype specific species and cultivation practices, as well as covering the area by brush (woody twigs) and the application of organic material. Where vegetation cover was still present, passive technologies such as the control of grazing by livestock in different conditional states (poor, moderate and good) was applied. In the grazing trials, the grass species composition, dry matter (DM) above ground biomass production of the herbaceous sward and the seasonal grazing capacity was determined within the exclosure and compared with sites that were still grazed. The percentage of available and consumable DM for the animals was determined by the desirability of the plant material. The rainfall between seasons was highly variable.
Depending on the degree of degradation, the land-use system and the type of restoration technology applied, vegetation cover and density of especially high palatable, perennial species increased. In actively restored sites, a high density and cover of grass species, such as Cenchrus ciliaris, Digitaria eriantha, Panicum maximum and Anthephora pubescens, were obtained where cultivation, re-seeding and the application of organic material or brush cover (woody twigs) were used. High frequencies of annual pioneer grass species, such as Enneapogon cenchroides and Urochloa panicoides occurred in the control plots or sites that were only cultivated. The soil type and rainfall, before and during the restoration activities, as well as the type and quality of seed used in re-seeding activities, influenced the success of the active restoration applications. In the passive restoration grazing trials, drastic increases only occurred during high seasonal rainfall events, preceding the growing period. In the poor conditional plots, the DM production varied from 22 – 220 kg/ha of desirable and non-desirable grass species and the grazing capacity from 195 – 22 ha/LSU. In the good conditional plots, very few changes in species composition, DM production (347 – 352 kg/ha) and grazing capacity (10 – 8 ha/LSU) occurred.
The aim of restoration will determine which type of technology to apply in the different land-use types. Proper management of restoration activities will contribute to the success and long-term sustainability of the restored site. The sites and results are also used as demonstration plots to make farmers aware of land degradation, desertification and the application of restoration practices in order to apply more sustainable rangeland management practices in the long-term.

Title: Basic research in water treatment and desalination: with some commercial examples
Presented by:Professor Ric Pashley, ARC Professorial Fellow, Murdoch University
Abstract:

• Topics will include:
• Ensuring future drinking water supplies in Perth.
• The proposed National Centre of Excellence in Water Desalination.
• Drinking water from sea water.
• Innovation in desalination.
• Cryptosporidium removal from drinking water.
• Household waste water treatment and recycling.
  

Title: Management of restored bauxite mines to accelerate the return of vertebrate fauna
Presented by: Dr Mike Craig, ALCOA Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, Murdoch University
Abstract:
Most restoration focuses on establishing vegetation cover, with the assumption that fauna will naturally recolonise the site, this is called the Field of Dreams hypothesis. However, this assumption is rarely tested and there are reasons to expect it not to hold in many ecosystems. We examined the recolonisation by reptiles and small mammals in restored mine pits to determine whether any species were slow, or failed, to recolonise. Mammals recolonised relatively rapidly but there was a group of three reptile species, all dependent on logs, which were slow, or failed to recolonise. There was also an additional reptile species that rapidly recolonise but then slowly disappeared from restored areas as they matured. We conducted experiments to determine whether increasing densities of habitat piles (logs) or thinning and burning would accelerate the return of these species. Increasing habitat densities had no noticeable effect on recolonisation, probably due to the young age (3-years old) of the restoration examined. Thinning and burning was, however, effective in accelerating recolonisation. Studies on one of the species that was slow to return, Egernia napoleonis, suggested that current prescriptions of 1 habitat pile per ha was insufficient to promote recolonisation by this species and that the densities should be increased to a minimum of 4 habitat piles per ha. Overall, our study showed that it can not be assumed that all animals will return to restored areas, even if vegetation cover is successfully established, and future research should focus on methods of accelerating the return and persistence of animals in these areas.

Title: The value of revegetation in the agricultural zone for fauna with CSIRO
Presented by: Dr Geoff Barrett

Title: Restoration attempts through alien species removal: experimental results from a lowland wet forest in Hawaii
Presented by: Dr Becky Ostertag, University of Hawaii
A removal experiment was used to examine the impact, resilience, and restoration potential of a lowland wet forest in Hawaii, a remnant forest type that has been heavily invaded by non-native plant and animal species. Pristine lowland wet forests no longer exist, so removal plots were used to assess the impacts of invasion.  Results provide clear evidence that invasive species are affecting forest functions.  This is consistent with the expectation that native species are conservative in regards to resource use. All non-native woody (7 species) and herbaceous biomass were removed in four 100-m2 removal plots.  Resource availability, productivity, and regrowth were followed over a three-year period.  Regeneration was almost entirely non-native. Removal dramatically altered physical characteristics: removal plots had lower leaf area index, higher air temperatures, higher afternoon soil temperatures, and lower relative humidity than control plots.  Tree diameter growth and litterfall mass of the three native tree species were not significantly greater after removal, testifying to their slow response capabilities.   The invaded forest had more than twice the litterfall mass and nutrient inputs than removal plots, although soil nutrient differences were not detected.  Canopy opening through this passive restoration approach may be required for the continued growth and regeneration of lowland forest species in Hawaii.  Restoration strategies will have to accept the slow growth rate of Hawaiian species and the fact that weeding may be required to suppress expansion and nutrient inputs of introduced species.

Title: A risk assessment of household chemicals to the key decomposers in the vermifiltration process
Presented by: Robert Hughes (PhD candidate)
This seminar will cover some of the findings from Robert Hughes’ PhD work, which is focused on an innovative wastewater treatment process (termed 'vermifiltration'). To begin with, the seminar will describe the process by detailing some of the research that led to the development of current technologies, such as the work on nutrient and organic solid removals. The seminar will then describe the overall research covered in the PhD and go into the results of the first research stage, which assessed the chronic toxicity from household chemicals to the key organic waste decomposers in the vermifiltration process. Some of the results from the second (acute toxicity or toxic shock) and third stages (full scale testing) of research will also be used to shed light on the results of the first stage. Finally, the seminar will conclude on the risks posed by the tested household chemicals and what this means for the future of current vermifiltration technologies.

Title: Fire regimes and ecosystem conservation and management in the northern sandplain shrublands of W.A.
Presented by: Professor Neal Enright
"In this seminar I will review briefly my past, present, and proposed future, research on fire ecology in the northern sandplain shrublands of W.A. where I have been working since 1986.  An early focus on the demography of Banksia species in relation to fire regime has since 2000 given way to a broader, community level focus on biodiversity conservation and management, albeit with a continuing emphasis on woody species demography. New research directions seek to address the potential impacts of climate change and more frequent fire on this highly biodiverse vegetation type."
Neal did his undergrad studies at the University of Western Australia, and a PhD at ANU. He held teaching positions at McGill University, The University of Auckland, and The University of Melbourne from 1979 to 2007, and in 2008 has come to Murdoch as a Research Professor in plant ecology, appointed in the Division of Research and Development, but housed in (and working as a member of) the School of Environmental Science.

Title: Responses of Grassland Birds to Experimental Manipulations of Livestock Stocking Rates on a Northwestern US Bunchgrass Community
Presented by: Professor Patricia (Pat) L. Kennedy, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Biology and Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center, Oregon State University, Union, OR, USA
Professor Kennedy is visiting the Ecosystem Restoration Laboratory in the School of Environmental Science at Murdoch University during her sabbatical leave from Oregon State University (Jan-Dec 2008). She is an avian ecologist who was hired by OSU in 2002 to join a multi-disciplinary team tasked with developing research programs to address issues relative to the sustainability of the agricultural industry in the interior Pacific Northwest. Her current research focus is on the indirect and direct effects of 1): livestock grazing and 2) fire management practices on biodiversity of arid western US ecosystems. On Wed., March 5, Pat will discuss the preliminary results of a livestock experiment she and colleagues are conducting to explore the ecological and economic effects of livestock stocking rates (densities) on one of the last large remnant grasslands in North America, the Zumwalt Prairie in NE Oregon. She will provide an overview of the landscape and the experiment as well as present the first year’s results on the effects of the stocking rates on grassland bird reproduction.

Title: Biogeographic relationships among deep-sea hydrothermal vent faunas at global scale
Presented by: Professor Pierre Legendre
Professor Pierre Legendre is from the Departement de sciences biologiques, Universite de Montreal http://www.bio.umontreal.ca/legendre/indexEnglish.html
He is the author of Numerical Ecology 1998 2nd English Edition Elsevier Science BV, Amsterdam, he is currently visiting at: Aquatic Ecology and Ecosystem Studies, School of Environmental Systems Engineering, The University of Western Australia

Title: Using the hydroponics system for domestic wastewater treatment.
Presenter: Noraisha Oyama (PhD candidate)

Title: Restoring nature in a changing world: metaphors, myths, hubris and humility
Presenter: Professor Richard Hobbs (Australian Professorial Fellow, School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University)

Title: Relationships with many facets: unpackaging the interaction between protected area managers and tour operators.
Presenter: Aggie Wegner (PhD candidate)

Title: Beauty and the Beast: restoring degraded landscapes
Presenter: Dr Rachel Standish

Title: Death of the Farm and Biodiversity
Presenter: Adjunct Prof. Ann Hamblin

Title: Assessment of the status of west coast demersal scalefish stocks
Presenter: Dr Rod Lenanton et al. (Research Division, WA Department of Fisheries)

Environmental Science Masters Seminars

• Jody Neiman - Diurnal variability in beach use patterns at three beaches in the Ningaloo Marine Park, WA : Supervisor: L. Beckley
  
• Luisa D’Andrea - Using hyperspectral data to map vegetation cover and condition of the coastal area at Coral Bay, WA : Supervisors: H. Kobryn & V. Cramer
  
• Kimberley Nihill - Environmental offsets: Are they ecologically sufficient? : Supervisor: R. Hobbs
  
• Michelle Hamilton - Landscape function analysis: can it be used as an indicator of biodiversity? : Supervisor: P. Ladd
  
• Shaazi Toofanee - Nutrient management in greywater re-use : Supervisor: M.Anda
  

Title: The long road to launching a boat at Coral Bay - the consultant’s perspective
Presenter: Dr Bruce Hegge (Oceanica Consulting)

Title: Burping cows !
Presenter: Prof Nick Costa

Honour Students' Seminars
1130 – 11.50 Aaron McDonald - Pixels to Quadrats: Linking field ecology and remote sensing: A case study from Rottnest Island (Supervisor : Lynnath Beckley, Halina Kobryn)
11.55 – 12.15 Paul Lock - SME–Environmental Management (Supervisor: Catherine Baudains)
12.20 –12.40 Miranda Brown - The benefits of lifestyle coaching in the workplace. (Supervisor : Peter Dingle, Catherine Baudains)
12.45 – 1.05 Kimberley Rozario - Improving the organic matter content in residue red sand using organic wastes (Supervisor : Jaya Nair)
1.10 - 1.30 Jessica O’Halloran - Implementation of the Southwest Australia Ecoregion Conservation Strategy: What Policy Instruments Can Help? (Supervisor : Sue Moore)

Title: Culture and the Wise Use of Wetlands.
Presenter: Alan Hill (PhD candidate)

Title: Stable sulfur isotope signals in seagrasses
Presenter: Associate Professor Marianne Holmer, (Institute of Biology, University of Southern Denmark)

Title: Fish and freshwater crayfish communities in the Blackwood River: migrations, ecology and the influence of surface and groundwater.
Presenter: Dr Stephen Beatty

Title: Science for Marine Conservation.
Presenter: Dr Chris Simpson (Department of Environment and Conservation)

Title: The truth about Nemo- The anemonefish symbiosis.
Presenter: Prof Daphne Fautin (University of Kansas)

Title: Risks and adaptation to climate change and regional air pollution in the Mekong region.
Presenter: Assoc Professor Frank Murray

Title: Early findings from a Premiers Water Foundation research project into Decentralised Wastewater Recycling Schemes for Urban Villages.
Presenter: Dr Martin Anda

Title: Old field dynamics around the world: similarities, differences, and lessons for succession and restoration.
Presenter: Dr Viki Cramer

Title: Wildlife tourism: Is there a need for research?
Presenter: Dr Kate Rodger

Title: Deep drains- are they an effective means of restoring salt-affected land?
Presenter: Professor Richard Bell

Title: Mapping submerged macrophytes in lakes – a hyperspectral remote sensing application for the European Water Framework Directive
Presenter: Dr Nicole Pinnel

Title: Key factors in the conservation of submerged plant communities in secondary salinised wetlands
Presenter: Dr Lien Sim

Title: Numerical modelling of subsurface flow constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment
Presenter: Dr. Günter Langergraber, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna

Title: Freshwater Musicians - the underwater sound field from some freshwater environments
Presenter: Dr Jacqueline Giles

Title: Agriculture in post-industrial societies; implications for Australia
Presenter: Adjunct Professor Ann Hamblin

Title: The application of multi-disciplinary research to agricultural sustainability in hill country pastoralism, New Zealand
Presenter: Dr Mike Dodd

Title: Effectiveness of lime as a treatment for saline-sodic soils in south-west Western Australia
Presenter: Tesfay Gebrewahid (MSc(EnvSc) candidate)

Title: The climate change challenge facing broadacre rural regions in Western Australia
Presenter: Dr Ross Kingwell, principal economist in the Department of Agriculture & Food & senior lecturer in the School of Agricultural & Resource Economics, University of Western Australia

Title: Sustainable Cities: How do cities respond to the sustainability agenda? What are the main new research agendas? What are the innovative cities that are leading the way??
Presenter: Professor Peter Newman

Title: Is fishing in the Blackwood Estuary going down the gurgler?
Presenter: Assoc Prof Lynnath Beckley

Title: How can we link sustainability and planning in agricultural environments?
Presenter: Rodney Safstrom from Sustainability and Agriculture Land Use Planning, Department of Agriculture and Food

Title: Marine applications of hyperspectral imagery
Speaker:  Dr Peter Hausknecht (Geomatics coordinator, Woodside)