CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
Past Seminars

Friday, 22 August 2003 11.30am (Tas time)

CSIRO Auditorium and via videoconference to Floreat and Cleveland

Dr David McDonald
CSIRO Marine Research

The National ESD Research Group

The introduction of environmental impact statements, more stringent requirements for disposing of industrial and domestic wastes and greater emphasis on planning economic activities in an ecologically sustainable manner has led to an ongoing need for scientific decision and analytical support to government, industry and the community. Despite the huge advances achieved so far, there still exist significant impediments to the capacity of scientific research enterprises to provide the necessary methods, techniques, frameworks and skills. In consort with other RGs the National ESD RG will address a subset of these impediments; some of these being of a generic methodological nature and others of an integrative nature.
The significance of the science is evident in two major research thrusts.
First, given the high degree of complexity of the ecosystems we study, the scientific methods and models we use and the problems we attempt to solve, there is an urgent need to achieve methodological advances for understanding, monitoring and assessing impacts of natural and anthropogenic forcing on marine ecosystems. Topics here include performance and rapid assessment criteria and methods, biogeography, paeleobiogeochemistry, risk assessment, optimal model complexity, optimal sampling and monitoring for achieving particular scientific and management objectives, and methods for assessing how well we characterise the system being studied.
Second, our proposed research will draw from the physical, biological and social sciences and will employ an integrated mix of field, laboratory and computer methods for applications of regional, national and international importance. The multidisciplinary nature of many of these applications demands the use of integrative methods, such as sampling for assessment of biodiversity and the bio-physical inventory, agent based modeling and management strategy evaluation. These methods require significant scientific development and repeated application to real-world problems in order to improve their reliability for providing scientific advice to policy makers, managers and members of the public.

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