A great first forumOur thanks to all our presenters who travelled so far to share their work with us and make our inaugural forum such an interesting and informative event. Joe and Val Baker had spent the previous day watching two of their grandchildren graduate, so they had to leave Canberra at 4:00am to reach the forum for its start! We thank you for your dedication.

Jo Thorpe, local entrepreneur and ABC journalist was a great anchor person for our team of presenters in the plenary session.

We were 94 delegates at the forum from as far afield as Melbourne, Wonboyn, Cooma,Wollongong, Sydney and Canberra. Many local people and natural resource managers joined us. We are in the process of gathering feedback and will share the results with you soon.

We will be adding details of the presentations to our resources page and a video of excerpts from the forum in due course. We will also be posting images shortly.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and made the two days such an engaging fun and learning experience. Thank you also to those presenters who led the field trips at the week-end, which extended the enjoyment for many delegates.

The last thanks must go to those people who worked behind the scenes to allow things to run smoothly: Rose-Marie MacMaster, Jenny and Graham Greenwood (a special thanks for all the lovely cakes we enjoyed), Robyn Whitby, Liz Allen, Patricia Daly and Brad Barker - you were a great team - thank you. Great catering was provided by Val Russell (Caterer's Choice) and the RSL Club for our Celebration dinner.

We are grateful to our sponsors - SRCMA, NSW NPWS, Southern Forests for helping to defray the costs of presenter's travel and accommodation, and Auswide for hosting the forum and providing administrative and operational support. It was a pleasure to be the first event in the "Greencape" training suite of the new Skills Centre.

The Atlas of Life inaugural Science Forum to be held at Merimbula on December 13th & 14th, with a Celebration Dinner on Friday 14th and field trips over the week-end

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Join us to hear 12 leading scientists talk about what they discovered in their pioneering research in our region and how things have changed. Learn about the work that led to Nadgee being declared a Nature Reserve and see the results of over 50 years of Shearwater studies at Montagu Island.

Everyone is welcome to this special gathering. The Forum will be especially interesting for naturalists, scientists and natural resource managers.

As well as gaining a unique insight into the science and ecology of forty years ago, you will have the chance to join discussions about the value of research spanning significant time. We will talk about where we can go from here, with this foundation of knowledge, new technologies and enthusiastic community contributors.

Our Celebration Dinner is on Friday 14th December , with Prof. Harry Recher as our after-dinner speaker. As it's so close to Christmas, why don't you and your friends book a table and celebrate Christmas together with us?

This is a special, never to be repeated opportunity to listen to the wealth of knowledge of these legendary scientists, so do come  and join us for fun and enlightenment.

In order of appearance:

Introduction to the Forum - Michael Green - a farmer for 36 years and researcher with a family history of 176 years of sustainable farming here

  • Prof. Harry F Recher - Emeritus Professor, FRZS, AMSenior Fellow, Ornithology, The Australian Museum, Sydney, NSW

  • Dr James Shields - Previously with the Australian Museum and ForestsNSW, Lecturer Maquarie University, currently “Rent a Ruminant” , Local Environment Solutions and “Conservation Canines”,

  • Dr Rod Kavanagh- Previously Principal Research Scientist, ForestsNSW

  • Steve Mackay MSc - formerly with Australian Water Technologies, now an independent consultant

  • Dr Dan Lunney - Senior Principal Research Scientist NSW Dept. Environment & Climate Change

  • Dr Peter Fullagar- Previously Principal Research Scientist CSIRO, now an independent consultant

  • Mike Crowley Msc - Previously Science Teacher Moruya High School, Regional Ecologist ForestsNSW, now an independent consultant

  • Dr Pat Hutchings- SeniorPrincipal Research Scientist - Australian Museum

  • Dr Alan Millar- Principal Research Scientist - Royal Botanic Gardens - Sydney

  • Prof. Joe Baker - AO OBE FTSE MSc PhD DSc FRACI C.Chem. Inaugural Patron of AMSA (Australian Marine Science Association), founder of AIMS (Australian Institute of Marine Science) previously Chief Scientist for Queensland

  • Doug Reckord - Principal, Bournda Environmental Education Centre

More information and published papers of all the presenters is available here.

Click 

here:

Links --> References

, or on each Presenter's name, to see more information and published papers.

Timetable information

A link to the printable pdf is available here: http://www.atlasoflife.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Science-Forum-Timetable-pdf.pdf

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We would like to thank our sponsors and volunteers as the Atlas of Life inaugural Science Forum would not be possible without their support

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Southern Rivers Catchment Management Authority

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We also thank very much our anonymous patron whoever you are

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FORUM DETAILS

  • The Forum is organised over two full days of presentations and plenary sessions from 8:30am

at Auswide Skills Centre, Cabarita Place, Merimbula (Behind the Lakeview Hotel)

  • Forum celebration dinner with our presenters on Friday evening 18:30 14th December

RSL Terrace Room, 52 Main Street, Merimbula

  • Field visits will be organised with several of our presenters on Saturday 15th December

Seaweed Field Trip (numbers limited), Coastal Heath & Forests Revisited , Mogareeka ShorebirdNesting site

Places for all Forum activities are limited so please book in as soon as you can.

Forum entry fee for the 2 days (including morning and afternoon tea and lunch): $30 per person

Celebration dinner (2 course meal, drinks not included) with after dinner speaker:  $55 per person

REGISTRATION

Please fill in your details and email this printable pdf registration form back to libby.alanhepburn@bigpond.com  to secure your places.

Here is a printable version of the forum brochure  for you: Celebration of Science Forum Details

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Any queries please contact Libby or Alan on: 0264950917  or write us a message here ---->