SPEAKER: Ran Nathan, Professor of Ecology, Movement Ecology Lab, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

DATE & TIME: Tuesday 22nd November 2022 @ 2pm.

LOCATION: In person at Burwood T3.22, and live streamed via Zoom (KA 5.107 is booked for our Warun Ponds colleagues to Zoom in together). Zoom link – click HERE to connect (Meeting ID: 812 5556 2274, Password: 89428618).

---

ABSTRACT.

Movement shapes how animals interact, survive and thrive in a dynamic world. Technological advances are now transforming movement ecology into a big-data discipline, enabling rapid, cost-effective generation of large amounts of data on movements of animals in the wild.

High-throughput systems provide new research opportunities beyond simply enlarging datasets and sample sizes, allowing thorough investigations of fine-scale variation among individuals, the true nature of biological interactions, behavioral decisions in response to the physical and anthropogenic environment, and behavioral shifts across spatiotemporal scales.

In this talk, I will overview the emerging high-throughput technologies in movement ecology research, and present examples for biological insights uniquely gained from big high-resolution datasets, focusing on studies of birds and bats.

---

BIO.

He is an ecologist who holds the Adelina and Massimo Della Pergola Chair of life Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior where he leads the Movement Ecology Lab. Additionally, Nathan is the director of the Minerva Center for Movement Ecology and the co-founding co-Editor-in-Chief of the free-access journal Movement Ecology (BioMed Central).

His work focuses on various aspects of movement ecology, including dispersal (and long-distance dispersal in particular), migration, foraging, navigation, flight aerodynamics, animal behavior, social interactions, invasive species, disease spread by avian species, gene flow, plant-animal interactions and plant recruitment.

Find out more about Ran’s Movement Ecology Lab HERE.

---

As a courtesy, we request that when connecting to the seminar that you mute your microphone unless you are required to speak, this would ensure that the sound from the speaker to the audience is not disrupted by feedback from your microphone.

Thanking you in advance!

SPEAKER: Prof Philip Cafaro, Colorado State University and senior researcher with The Overpopulation Project.

DATE & TIME: Friday 11th November 2022 @ 12pm.

LOCATION: Via Zoom – click HERE to connect (Meeting ID: 812 5556 2274, Password: 89428618).

---

ABSTRACT.

Global biodiversity decline is caused by too many people consuming too much and displacing other species.

This talk briefly reviews some evidence for how excessive human numbers destroy and degrade habitats for other species and how human population decrease opens possibilities for ecological restoration.

It asks when judgements of human overpopulation are justified and makes the case that conservationists should advocate explicitly for smaller populations.

Finally, it solicits ideas for how conservation biologists and conservationists generally can more effectively address the fundamental drivers of biodiversity loss and other global environmental problems: economic and demographic growth.

---

BIO.

I’m a philosophy professor at Colorado State University living in Fort Collins, Colorado with my wife Kris.

My scholarly work centers on environmental ethics, population policy and the preservation of wild nature. I’m the author of Thoreau’s Living Ethics: Walden and the Pursuit of Virtue and How Many Is Too Many? The Progressive Argument for Reducing Immigration into the United States.

I am an affiliated faculty member of CSU’s School of Global Environmental Sustainability and past president of the International Society for Environmental Ethics. More on Philip and his research HERE.

---

As a courtesy, we request that when connecting to the seminar that you mute your microphone unless you are required to speak, this would ensure that the sound from the speaker to the audience is not disrupted by feedback from your microphone.

Thanking you in advance!

Deakin University’s Centre for Integrative Ecology presents its Wild Webinars 2022 on-line public seminar series. The series brings exciting science stories live into your evening. Kick back and be regaled by the latest discoveries in ecology, conservation, evolution and sustainability presented by CIE’s leading research experts.

• Speaker(s): Dr. Nick Porch & PhD candidate Meghan Shaw
• Title(s): Introducing south-eastern Australia’s rich terrestrial invertebrate fauna by Dr. Nick Porch & The next Bee-yonce: Can insects become conservation celebrities? by PhD Candidate Meghan Shaw
• When: Tuesday 1st November 2022, 7:30-8:30 pm AEST – registration now open

---

Introducing south-eastern Australia’s rich terrestrial invertebrate fauna / Dr. Nick Porch

Other than a few charismatic groups, like butterflies and dragonflies, the terrestrial invertebrate fauna of Australia is poorly known; in many groups the majority of species are yet to be even formally described. For the species that have been described, detailed knowledge of their distribution and ecology is often lacking. This adds up to a potential conservation problem. If we don’t know what lives where, how do we know which places are especially important for invertebrate diversity? In this talk I will present some of the major groups of terrestrial invertebrates in SE. Australia using high-resolution macro-photography and introduce issues that are especially pertinent to the conservation of the fauna characterised by it massive diversity and high rates of turnover across the landscape.

About Nick: Nick is a palaeoecologist interested in human impact on Indo-Pacific island ecosystems with a side interest in, and knowledge of, SE. Australia beetles and other terrestrial invertebrates; his worry about the lack of engagement with invertebrate diversity explains this evolving change in direction. He is lucky to have four beetles, an assassin spider, a pincushion millipede and a lace bug, named after him.

Follow Nick HERE.

---

The next Bee-yonce: Can insects become conservation celebrities? / PhD Candidate Meghan Shaw

The world of species conservation is just like the world of high school, a popularity contest. Currently the animals we know and love most tend to be mammals and birds, the cute and fluffy creatures. These animals get the most conservation funding and thus often are less likely to become extinct. As a result, 94% of the world’s endangered species are reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates.

About Meg: Meg Shaw is a PhD Candidate and science communicator at Deakin University, with an interest in Conservation Marketing and Social Science. Her research focuses on using imagery to connect people with wildlife and to promote the adoption of wildlife friendly behaviours. She is also the secretary of ConsMark.

Follow Meghan HERE.

---

Find more information about CIE’s Wild Webinars 2022 HERE.

SPEAKER: Dr. Andrea Griffin, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle.

DATE & TIME: Friday 21st October 2022 @ 12pm.

LOCATION: In person (Geelong, Waurn Ponds campus) or via Zoom – click HERE to connect (Meeting ID: 864 0886 8825, Password: 29715864).

Scroll down for more options on how to connect.

---

ABSTRACT.

Behaviour constitutes the interface by which animals interact with their environment. How animals select and navigate their surroundings, locate and use resources, interact with their own and other species, alongside the reproductive (fitness) costs and benefits they thus achieve, are questions in animal behaviour, even though they are often referred to with other terms. It follows naturally that understanding behaviour is central to many wildlife conservation and management challenges, tools and solutions.

From drones to olfactory and visual camouflage, to tracking the movements of shorebirds, my talk will touch on how behavioural research can offer new insights and solutions to protecting biodiversity.

My talk will then focus on what a 10-year ecological, behavioural and nutritional research program in one of the world’s most successful avian ecological invaders, the common myna, can tell us about the potential drivers of this species’ range expansion.

---

BIO.

Dr Andrea S. Griffin is a Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Environmental Science and Management to which she recently moved after 15 years in the School of Psychology. Her core interests lie in understanding the mechanisms of behaviour and cognition, alongside how animals use these faculties to adjust to novel and challenging environmental conditions.

She enjoys tackling questions that bridge curiosity-driven and applied research in biodiversity management and conservation. As a result, her research has branched out into many areas beyond animal behaviour, with emerging research directions on the movement ecology of migratory shorebirds and in conservation psychology.

Follow Andrea on Twitter or visit her Google Scholar page.

---

As a courtesy, we request that when connecting to the seminar that you mute your microphone unless you are required to speak, this would ensure that the sound from the speaker to the audience is not disrupted by feedback from your microphone.

Thanking you in advance!

---

More options on how to connect:

One tap mobile

+61280156011,,86408868825# Australia

+61370182005,,86408868825# Australia

Dial by your location

        +61 2 8015 6011 Australia

        +61 3 7018 2005 Australia

        +61 7 3185 3730 Australia

        +61 8 6119 3900 Australia

        +61 8 7150 1149 Australia

Meeting ID: 864 0886 8825

Find your local number: https://deakin.zoom.us/u/kcuI13f5sx

Join by SIP

86408868825@zoom.aarnet.edu.au

Join by Skype for Business

https://deakin.zoom.us/skype/86408868825

SPEAKER: Dr. Owen Holland, EcoGenetics Lab, Deakin University.

DATE & TIME: Thursday 29th September 2022 @ 4pm.

LOCATION: Via Zoom. Click HERE to connect (Meeting ID: 812 5556 2274, Password: 89428618).

Scroll down for more options on how to connect.

---

ABSTRACT.

Climate change induced ocean warming, ocean acidification, reduced oxygen solubility, and shifts in oceanic currents are pushing species beyond their physiological limits, causing changes in species distributions, and decoupling critical trophic interactions that regulate marine biodiversity and ecosystem function.

These effects are especially pervasive in south-eastern Australia, a region prone to marine heatwaves and where temperatures are rising at four times the global average. Here, the largest abalone (Haliotis spp.) fisheries in the world operates, providing substantial value for the national economy.

These fisheries have suffered declines in recent history as a result of elevated sea surface temperatures, overexploitation and disease, and are expected to face increasing pressures that could compromise the future viability of fishing stocks in this climate change hotspot.

Characterising the likely responses of abalone experiencing rapid changes in the environment is therefore critical for developing adaptive management strategies, particularly in response to ocean warming, shifts in resource availability, and disease.

Here, I will describe how I aimed to disentangle the direct and indirect effects of ocean warming on south-eastern Australian abalone fisheries, and the potential for adaptive responses relating to pressures associated with shifts in trophic interactions, disease, and thermal stress.

Overall, I demonstrate that the effects of climate change on abalone fisheries are likely to be complex involving both direct and indirect effects, but that rapid evolutionary responses to some environmental challenges are indeed possible. The management implications of the findings for each research chapter and scope for further research is discussed in detail.

It is hoped that the emergent outputs from this thesis will help inform future adaptive management strategies and Australian abalone fisheries, as well as global fisheries threatened by climate change.

---

BIO.

Owen is a postdoc with the Warrnambool branch of the EcoGenetics Lab, investigating patterns of stock connectivity in Southern Ocean crab fisheries (Pseudocarcinus gigas and Leptomithrax gaimardii) using population genomic techniques.

His research aims to provide managers with a resource for establishing sustainable management programs that account for patterns of stock connectivity and the sensitivities of individual stocks to environmental disturbance and fishing pressure.

He also continues to work with an extended network of collaborators on a suite of other genetic and genomic research projects, with a particular interest in investigating how both terrestrial and aquatic taxa are likely to adapt and evolve in response to climate change and other environmental changes, to better inform conservation, restoration and industry efforts.

Additionally, Owen works alongside an extended group of collaborators applying technical genetic skills to multiple fields within the ecological sciences.

Follow Owen on Twitter

---

As a courtesy, we request that when connecting to the seminar that you mute your microphone unless you are required to speak, this would ensure that the sound from the speaker to the audience is not disrupted by feedback from your microphone.

Thanking you in advance!

---

More options on how to connect:

One tap mobile
+61370182005,,81255562274# Australia
+61731853730,,81255562274# Australia

Dial by your location
+61 3 7018 2005 Australia
+61 7 3185 3730 Australia
+61 8 6119 3900 Australia
+61 8 7150 1149 Australia
+61 2 8015 6011 Australia
Meeting ID: 812 5556 2274
Find your local number: https://deakin.zoom.us/u/kbGWAtY47g

Join by SIP
81255562274@zoom.aarnet.edu.au

Join by Skype for Business
https://deakin.zoom.us/skype/81255562274

Deakin University’s Centre for Integrative Ecology presents its Wild Webinars 2022 on-line public seminar series. The series brings exciting science stories live into your evening. Kick back and be regaled by the latest discoveries in ecology, conservation, evolution and sustainability presented by CIE’s leading research experts.

• Speaker: PhD candidate Cassie Speakman
• Title: Furry friends in our watery backyard
• When: Tuesday 4th October 2022, 7:30-8:30 pm AEST – registration now open

Climate change is can have significant impacts on our natural ecosystems, from the smallest microbes up to the biggest plants and animals. In animals, these impacts can be direct, like animals perishing in wildfires, or indirect, such as changes in how available their food is or how vulnerable they are to disease or predation. In this talk, I will introduce you to one of my favourite furry friends in our watery backyard – the Australian fur seal! We’ll delve into what we know and don’t know about the species and how changes in the environment influence their hunting behaviour and population dynamics.

About Cassie: I’m a PhD candidate within the Centre for Integrative Ecology at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. My research aims to understand how human-induced environmental change impacts wild animal populations and to identify effective species management and conservation options. My research uses a variety of individual-, population-, and ecosystem-level modelling approaches, including individual-based modelling and decision analysis, to inform the management and conservation of species in the wild.

Follow Cassie HERE.

---

Find more information about CIE’s Wild Webinars 2022 HERE.

SPEAKER: Katrina Szetey, CSIRO.

DATE & TIME: Friday 16th September 2022 @ 12pm.

LOCATION: Via Zoom. Click HERE to connect (Meeting ID: 812 5556 2274, Password: 89428618).

Scroll down for more options on how to connect.

---

ABSTRACT.

Regional Australia is currently undergoing rapid, more unpredictable, and larger scale change under the influence of anthropogenic change. Katrina is going to talk about two different projects which both seek to understand and predict potential futures in human-natural systems in regional Australia. The first is her PhD work, where she examined how to develop pathways to the Sustainable Development Goals at the local scale with a case study community in the Otways in Victoria.

This research included scenario development, sustainability planning, system dynamics modelling, and scenario analysis. The second project is her postdoctoral research, which is looking at landscape change in a mix of land use types caused by interacting social, economic, and ecological drivers. This change is conceptualised with state-and-transition models, which are then quantified and simulated to predict ecosystem change.

While one project is grounded in traditional sustainability science and the other is more strongly ecological, both projects feature elements of simulation modelling, co-production, and understanding of systems approaches, as well as a strong emphasis on transdiciplinarity.

---

BIO.

Katrina is a postdoctoral fellow with CSIRO in the Valuing Sustainability Future Science Platform and part of the Future States project which seeks to predict future change in Australian landscapes. Her PhD work with Brett Bryan and Enayat Moallemi at Deakin University looked at local scale sustainability in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Prior to becoming a full-time researcher, Katrina’s work history stretched from bookkeeping to being a professional musician, which has stood her in good stead for her transdisciplinary research. She volunteers for the charity Migraine Australia and is an advocate for people who live with migraine. She currently lives in Canberra with her partner and two Burmese cats, and spends her free time doing all manner of textile crafts and enjoying science fiction.

---

As a courtesy, we request that when connecting to the seminar that you mute your microphone unless you are required to speak, this would ensure that the sound from the speaker to the audience is not disrupted by feedback from your microphone.

Thanking you in advance!

---

More options on how to connect:

One tap mobile
+61370182005,,81255562274# Australia
+61731853730,,81255562274# Australia

Dial by your location
+61 3 7018 2005 Australia
+61 7 3185 3730 Australia
+61 8 6119 3900 Australia
+61 8 7150 1149 Australia
+61 2 8015 6011 Australia
Meeting ID: 812 5556 2274
Find your local number: https://deakin.zoom.us/u/kbGWAtY47g

Join by SIP
81255562274@zoom.aarnet.edu.au

Join by Skype for Business
https://deakin.zoom.us/skype/81255562274

SPEAKER: Dr. Andrew Skowno, South African National Biodiversity Institute.

DATE & TIME: Friday 9th September 2022 @ 12pm.

LOCATION: Via Zoom. Click HERE to connect (Meeting ID: 814 6121 1314, Password: 74929752, please do NOT test this link prior to the meeting on Friday).

---

Dr. Andrew Skowno from South African National Biodiversity Institute, will be giving a guest seminar talk this Friday at 12pm on the South African Red List of Ecosystems terrestrial assessment.

Dr. Skowno is currently in Melbourne for a global workshop with the Red List of Ecosystems lab (hosted by Prof. Emily Nicholson, Dr. Jess Rowland and Simone Stevenson).

This is a unique opportunity to hear how ecosystems are assessed at a national level.

Follow Andrew on Twitter.

---

As a courtesy, we request that when connecting to the seminar that you mute your microphone unless you are required to speak, this would ensure that the sound from the speaker to the audience is not disrupted by feedback from your microphone.

Thanking you in advance!

---

We look forward to welcoming you to this special seminar. Our regular seminar series continues next week, as scheduled.

Deakin University’s Centre for Integrative Ecology presents its Wild Webinars 2022 on-line public seminar series. The series brings exciting science stories live into your evening. Kick back and be regaled by the latest discoveries in ecology, conservation, evolution and sustainability presented by CIE’s leading research experts.

• Speaker: Prof Marcel Klaassen, and PhD candidates Anne Eichholtzer & Nick Carter.
• Title: Citizen science powering conservation
• When: Tuesday 6th September 2022, 7:30-8:30 pm AEST – registration now open

Citizen science – or community science – is the “public participation and collaboration in scientific research with the aim to increase scientific knowledge” (ACSA).

This webinar is a tribute to the citizen scientists increasingly powering scientific research at Deakin University and globally.

Three researchers (Prof. Marcel Klaassen, and PhD candidates Anne Eichholtzer and Nicholas Carter) will discuss on-going projects, that would not be possible without the involvement of the community. We will share stories and findings, along with some remaining challenges for citizen science to reach its full potential as a research and engagement tool.

Follow Marcel here, follow Anne here and you can follow Nick here.

---

Find more information about CIE’s Wild Webinars 2022 HERE.

SPEAKER: Dr. Michelle Ward, The University of Queensland.

DATE & TIME: Friday 2nd September 2022 @ 12pm.

LOCATION: Via Zoom. Click HERE to connect (Meeting ID: 812 5556 2274, Password: 89428618).

Scroll down for more options on how to connect.

---

ABSTRACT.

The previous coalition government looked on while the 2019/2020 fires raged. In the aftermath, they then didn’t spend enough post-fire to recover species severely impacted by the megafires, leaving many species in desperate trouble. We calculated how much they should have spent, and worked out what an ongoing investment in restoration would look like to enable species recovery.

---

BIO.

I am a conservation scientist at WWF and post doctoral researcher as UQ. My research centres on combining remote sensing technology with economic instruments and systematic conservation planning to achieve the best solutions for threatened species.

In doing so, I have explored the effectiveness of environmental legislation in mitigating threats, investigated and mapped biodiversity status and trends, developed advanced datasets to explore threat drivers and impacts, established novel, problem-based models for cost-effectively prioritizing conservation actions, quantified the cumulative impact of development on threatened species, investigated complex sustainability problems through scenario analysis, evaluated bushfire impact and recovery, and assessed global-scale structural connectivity of landscapes.

---

As a courtesy, we request that when connecting to the seminar that you mute your microphone unless you are required to speak, this would ensure that the sound from the speaker to the audience is not disrupted by feedback from your microphone.

Thanking you in advance!

---

More options on how to connect:

One tap mobile
+61370182005,,81255562274# Australia
+61731853730,,81255562274# Australia

Dial by your location
+61 3 7018 2005 Australia
+61 7 3185 3730 Australia
+61 8 6119 3900 Australia
+61 8 7150 1149 Australia
+61 2 8015 6011 Australia
Meeting ID: 812 5556 2274
Find your local number: https://deakin.zoom.us/u/kbGWAtY47g

Join by SIP
81255562274@zoom.aarnet.edu.au

Join by Skype for Business
https://deakin.zoom.us/skype/81255562274