Members of the DEEP group have visited four continents over the past month to attend conferences. With many academics delving into the nitty-gritty details of their research topics, attending conferences helps us step back, consider the international significance of our work and situate it in broader contexts or themes. This can provide new perspectives and inspire us to continue our work with renewed relevance and flexibility.
Moreover, conferences provide opportunities to collaborate with researchers from around the World, make valuable professional connections and bounce ideas off others with geographically, taxonomically or methodologically different perspectives. They connect multiple stakeholders, including government, scientists, students, practitioners, and educators, allowing science to cross interdisciplinary boundaries. In general, conferences provide a platform off which a research area can progress globally, by connecting the smaller components that make it cohesive.
Keep reading to find out where our members have been jet-setting and the research topics they have been transporting around the World.
29th International Congress for Conservation Biology 2019 (LINK)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
With over 1,300 attendees from 87 nations, this large conference had a broad reach and aimed to address conservation challenges globally. Recently issued from the conference was ‘The 2019 Kuala Lumpur Declaration: The species extinction crisis is a crisis of humanity’. Inspired by conference presentations, this declaration outlines the broad conclusions of the conference and aims to share these with the public. The DEEP group was represented at the conference by three members.
Dr. Jessie Buettel (Research Director)
Title: Quantifying the impact of land-use change on habitat selection of threatened Tasmanian mammals using a camera-trapping network
Dr. Stefania Ondei (Post-doctoral Research Fellow)
Title: Drivers of forest biodiversity: A multiscale assessment
Vishesh (Leon) Diengdoh (PhD candidate)
Title: Pollinating insects and birds across a landscape
Malaysian insects captured by Leon Diengdoh during a break from the conference rooms.
Species on the Move 2019 (LINK)
Kruger National Park, South Africa
With the inaugural conference held in Hobart 3 years ago, SOTM had around 250 attendees this year, creating a community atmosphere and allowing attendees to interact. The conference draws together researchers and natural resource managers interested in how species are responding to climate change and methods for predicting future responses. This is a growing research field and the conference aimed to connect independent research areas. The DEEP group was represented by founder, Barry Brook, and PhD candidate, Shane Morris.
Prof. Barry Brook (ARC Australian Laureate Fellow & Founder of DEEP)
Title: Reconstructing the spatio-temporal extinction dynamics of the thylacine
Shane Morris (PhD candidate)
Title: The success of terrestrial vertebrate conservation translocations worldwide: are we getting better at moving species?
There was no shortage of wildlife at Kruger National Park, the venue for Species on the Move 2019. Photos captured by Shane Morris.
Humboldt 250 Meeting 2019 (LINK)
Quito, Ecuador
Celebrating the 250th anniversary of Alexander von Humboldt’s birth, like the man it was named after, this conference explored the links between geology, ecology and diversity in the field of research now known as biogeography. The DEEP group was represented by two PhD students, Cristian and Lucile.
Lucile Lévêque (PhD Candidate)
Title: Through the extinction filter: historical and contemporary patterns of vulnerability of the most extinction-prone bird family
*Lucile was awarded best oral presentation at the conference!
Cristian Montalvo Mancheno (PhD Candidate)
Title: Bioregionalization approaches for conservation: methods, biases, and their implications for Australian biodiversity
Lucile and Cris at the IBS 2019 Humboldt 250 conference and some Galapogos wildlife captured by Lucile after the conference.
We also had some inter-state conference attendance in early July, with post-doc, Rebecca Wheatley, attending the Australian Mammal Society Conference in Sydney and honours student, Peter Vaughan, jetting to Darwin to present his poster at the Australian Ornithological Conference.
Rebecca Wheatley (Post-doctoral Fellow)
Could feral dromedaries reduce fuel loads for wildfire events?
Peter Vaughan (Honours Student)
Habitat – environment associations of Tasmanian Procellariformes
Peter presenting his poster at the Australian Ornithological Conference.
What a productive month DEEP has had, taking our research to the World, strengthening collaborations and broadening our potential by learning from others. We look forward to participating in other conferences later in the year, particularly the Ecological Society of Australia Conference, which will be held in November in Tasmania this year. Needless to say, there will be a strong presence from the DEEP group!