This week’s topic was “Meeting the challenges of landscape management in the 21st century.”

The seminar was presented by Professor Mike Wilkinson from the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) at Aberystwyth University, Wales on Friday August 27 in the Royal Society Rooms.

Professor Wilkinson has been involved in a research project at Aberystwyth University to agree on a standard ‘plant DNA barcode’ to provide the foundation for the widespread use of DNA technologies to identify plants. Professor Wilkinson is a member of the 52 strong team of scientists from 10 countries who collaborated on the work.

Click here to view the ACEBB 2010 Seminar programme.

You can also download a copy of the PowerPoint here.

The Environment Institute and the Department for Water (previously DWLBC) hosted the latest installment of the Four in 40 series today, with its seminar titled ‘Modelling as a Tool for Decision Support’ held at the Auditorium, RIAus.

Speakers were:
- Prof Graeme Dandy, School of Civil Environmental and Mining Engineering, The University of Adelaide
- Prof Corey Bradshaw, Director Ecological Modelling, The University of Adelaide
- Theresa Heneker, Principal Hydrologist, Modelling, Department for Water
- Wei Yan, Principal Groundwater Modeller, Department for Water

“Four in 40″ is a collaboration between The University of Adelaide and the Department for Water, where 4 speakers each speak for 10 minutes on their research and its implications for policy (and vice versa), followed by discussion.  The purpose is to build understanding of how to best work with each other, build new business for both organisations and raise awareness of activity being undertaken in water/NRM policy and research.

You can also download a copy of the PowerPoint here.

The Environment Institute and the Department for Water (previously DWLBC) hosted the latest installment of the Four in 40 series today, with its seminar titled ‘Modelling as a Tool for Decision Support’ held at the Auditorium, RIAus.

Speakers were:
- Prof Graeme Dandy, School of Civil Environmental and Mining Engineering, The University of Adelaide
- Prof Corey Bradshaw, Director Ecological Modelling, The University of Adelaide
- Theresa Heneker, Principal Hydrologist, Modelling, Department for Water
- Wei Yan, Principal Groundwater Modeller, Department for Water

“Four in 40″ is a collaboration between The University of Adelaide and the Department for Water, where 4 speakers each speak for 10 minutes on their research and its implications for policy (and vice versa), followed by discussion.  The purpose is to build understanding of how to best work with each other, build new business for both organisations and raise awareness of activity being undertaken in water/NRM policy and research.

Each presentation is also available as an individual podcast, click here.

The fifth seminar in the Energy Futures series “Living with Fossil Fuels – The Elephant in the Room” was held last evening at the University of Adelaide.  The event was convened by A/Prof Peter Ashman with guest speakers A/Prof Bassam Dally, Dr Philip Kwong and Dr Philip van Eyk (all from the School of Chemical Engineering, UofA). This seminar reviewed the role of fossil fuels in the near future and the available technology that will aid us to live with fossil fuels while mitigating the impact on the environment.

This seminar series is being hosted by the Centre for Energy Technology and the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Click here to read more about next week’s seminar titled ‘Carbon Sequestration’, or click here to view the full programme.

Do you want to inspire and motivate young people to pursue interests in science?…..help teachers enhance science education in their classrooms?

Scientists in Schools is a national program creating and supporting flexible, ongoing, professional partnerships between scientists, teachers and school communities.

For more information or to register your interest, click here.

Click here to visit the Scientists in Schools website.

Each presentation is also available as an individual podcast, click here.

The fourth seminar in the Energy Futures series “Integrated Energy Systems” was held last evening at the University of Adelaide. Guest speakers were: Prof Gus Nathan (Centre for Energy Technology, UofA), Terry Kallis (Petratherm Ltd), Dr Rob Dickinson (Hydricity SA) and A/Prof Nesimi Ertugrul (School of Electronical and Electronic Engineering, UofA).

This seminar explored some of the changes to expect in our energy systems during the transition to a clean energy future.  Already we are seeing the emergence of fusion and hybrid technologies that combine renewable energy with conventional energy sources as a means to reduce the cost of the delivery of renewable energy.

This seminar series is being hosted by the Centre for Energy Technology and the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.  Click here to view the programme.

Evolutionary adaptation can be rapid and help species counter stressful conditions or realize ecological opportunities arising from climate change. In this seminar Professor Hoffmann discussed the challenges around understanding when evolution will occur, and identifying potential evolutionary winners and losers, including species living near physiological limits that lack adaptive capacity. Professor Hoffman discussed the ways evolutionary processes can be incorporated into programs designed to minimize biodiversity loss under rapid climate change. These challenges can be met through realistic models of evolutionary change linked to experimental data across a range of taxa.

Motivated by the belief that “effective communication of the science of climate change is fundamental to providing policy makers with the type of evidence required to institute meaningful mitigation policy and to understand available adaptation options,” Barry has taken an active role in communicating science.

In 2008 Barry started bravenewclimate.com which currently receives over 1000 hits a day and has had over 737 000 hits to date. He also regularly contributes to public lectures and workshops and is currently moderating a six part series called Thinking critically about the future. This  six part series explores future energy sources, their environmental effects and the potential new alternative sources we must turn to as traditional resources diminish.

Barry was not the only University of Adelaide scientist recognised at these awards. Professor Tanya Munro, the Director of IPAS was jointly awarded South Australian Scientist of the Year with Professor Angel Lopez, an affiliate with the University. For more information about the other University of Adelaide Scientists who were honoured click here.

Congratulations to Barry for this great honour!

Presentations are also available as individual podcasts here.

The third seminar in the Energy Futures series “Biomass and Biofuels” was held last evening at the University of Adelaide. The three guest speakers were: A/Prof. Peter Ashman (School of Chemical Engineering, UofA), Dr David Lewis (School of Chemical Engineering, UofA) and Gerald Barker (SQC).

This seminar explored the feedstocks and processes that are commonly used to produce biofuels and to convert biomass into useful energy.  It examined the opportunities for biomass and biofuels in a carbon-constrained world and the challenges that must be overcome.  The seminar highlighted specific work at the University of Adelaide for the production of biofuels from marine microalgae and gave an industry perspective of this work.

This seminar series is being hosted by the Centre for Energy Technology and the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.  Click here to view the programme.

Podcasts are now available for last night’s Thinking Critically About Sustainable Energy Seminar Series 2, which tackled the theme of Established Renewables.

Associate Professor Bassam Dally and a panel of experts discussed the role that established renewables will play in the move away from fossil fuels. Together they examined whether these sources of energy are efficient enough to be cost-effective and produce enough energy to satisfy future requirements.

Presentations are also available as individual podcasts here.

The Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus) and The Centre for Energy Technology at The University of Adelaide are proud to collaborate on this exciting 6-part series.

This series is a valuable opportunity for anyone interested in learning more about the energy sources humans rely upon today, and help us all to understand the options our society is considering to sustainably deliver our future energy demands.

Seminars are free but booking is essential.  To find out more and to reserve your seat, please visit the RIAus website.