IBES and ACES are delighted that Prof Iain Gordon, Chief Executive of the James Hutton Institute will be giving a seminar on Friday 20th May at 1130 in the Zoology Lecture Theatre.
Iain returned to Scotland to take up the post of Chief Executive at The James Hutton Institute after eight years working with CSIRO - the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation - in Canberra. CSIRO is the national government body for scientific research in Australia.
With increases in sea surface temperature and ocean acidification associated with climate change Australia's Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is likely to face increased challenges to its diversity and integrity. Globally we need to increase efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but as far as Australia is concerned the most effective action that can be taken locally is to reduce the pressure on the reef from land-based pollutants that flow out of the rivers into the GBR lagoon. The primary pollutants leaving the land are nutrients (N&P), sediments and pest/herbicides. The Federal and State Governments have recently implemented new funding and policy initiatives (e.g. ReefRescue), based on by good science, to encourage the agricultural sector to change management to reduce the amount of pollutants leaving farms and protect the reef in the face of climate change.
Links:
[1] https://www.hutton.ac.uk/staff/iain-gordon