Ecology 2003 - Armidale, New South Wales
Once again, the annual ESA conference proved a huge success,
attracting over 500 registrants to a regional area for a feast
of research and networking. Highlights included the opening plenary
with speakers from the federal government and the esteemed Wentworth
Group. The program included up to 6 parallel sessions on some
days, providing a wide range of choices for attendees.
You can view the final
program as a PDF here.
The ESA Gold Medal was awarded to Professor Mark Westoby, Macquarie
University, for his outstanding contribution to ecological science
throughout his career.
An interesting innovation at ESA2003 was the interwearving of
a local arts program into the scientific program, comprising of
theatre performances and art exhibitions, and the commissioning
of a special limited ESA print from a local artist. This received
some national media interest, and a report can be heard here.
Postgraduate course
The 3rd one-day postgraduate course on Current Ecology and Evolution
was held on the day prior to the conference. Speakers included
Prof. Hugh Possingham, Prof. Mike Lee, Dr Kris French, Prof. Peter
Cullen and Greens Member, Lee Rhiannon.
The scientific combined with the political, addressing questions
such as "Your research - can it influence governments and save
the world?" and "How to do research that can change Australia's
future".
Topics covered included an update on the most interesting recent
advance in all ranges of ecological science from the experts,
and focus groups tackling the questions "Are exotic species always
a bad thing for non-agricultural ecosystems?" and "What would
be high-priority research questions for cooperatives made up from
lots of researchers?", looking at the implicatons of cooperation
in an electronic research environment.
Almost 100 students attended the day, and it was well received
as a continuing event in the student calendar.
Student prizes awarded at ESA 2003
- abstracts and posters can be viewed as PDFs.
ESA Marilyn Fox Award for best inaugeral presentation at a conference:
Fred Ford
Rock on! Ecological Consequences of Pebble Mounds
ESA Best spoken paper at the conference: Karen Marsh
How do plant toxins
lead to mixed diets?
ESA runner-up best spoken paper at the conference: Tara Martin
Do
experts know anything about birds and grazing? A Bayesian approach
using expert opinion .
ESA Best poster:
ESA Runner up best poster: Shanti Virgona
Habitat segregation
of Banksia marginata and Banksia spinulosa
Blackwell/EMR prize for a spoken presentation on management or
restoration: Angela Wardell-Johnson People and their framewords
of environmental practice: a case study of two contrasting landscapes
Blackwell/EMR prize for a poster presentation on management or
restoration: Jodie Reseigh
Grassy Vegetation:
the effects of agricultural management on native plant species
richness
Australian Flora Foundation prize for a spoken paper on the biology
or cultivation of an Australian plant:
Kathleen Owen.
The
mechanism of self-sterility in Bulbine bulbosa : self-incompatibility
or inbreeding depression
Australian Flora Foundation prize for a poster on the biology
or cultivation of an Australian plant:
Rainforest CRC prize for best spoken presentation: Sarah Boulter
Reproduction
on top canopy trees, and the birds and the bees .
Rainforest CRC prize for a student poster presentation: Jessie
Wells
Plant species
attributes and spatial patterns of regeneration in secondary rainforests
|
