Scientists address climate change at marine conf

Top scientists to address climate change at marine conference As climate....

  Top scientists to address climate change at marine conference As climate change dominates conversations all over the world, top scientists will gather at the University of Waikato to discuss the impacts the phenomenon on marine systems at the Annual New Zealand Marine Sciences Society Conference, 29 -31 August. 'The worm snail that ate the reef' will be among the 180 presentations featured at the conference, alongside 'A cocktail of urban influx in estuaries: Hangovers for biota?' and 'I get around: Dispersal by macroalgae', to name a few. This year the conference will host six plenary speakers, including the Minister for Climate Change, the Hon. David Parker. The plenary speakers will all draw on their expertise to discuss how marine systems might respond to climatic fluctuations in response to recent scientific reports documenting likely increases in global temperatures. Dr Jim Renwick, Chief Climate Scientist at NIWA, will speak about the role of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and discuss some of the key messages in its recent Assessment Report. Dr Renwick leads a major research programme on climate variability and change, and is interested in Southern Hemisphere climate variability and impacts of climate on the New Zealand environment. Also from NIWA is Dr Simon Thrush, a coastal ecosystems science leader. Dr Thrush will address the impacts of climate change on coastal soft sediment ecosystems. Dr Thrush will also demonstrate how Antarctica is such an important region for understanding ecological responses to climate change, drawing on his visits to the Ross Sea, where he investigated the biodiversity of the Antarctic marine environment. Global warming sceptic Associate Professor Chris de Freitas from the University of Auckland School of Geography, Geology and Environmental Science and marine ecologist Professor David Schiel from the University of Canterbury will also speak. To celebrate the Linnaeus Tricentennial, Dr Dennis Gordon, the most recent winner of the society's lifetime achievement award, will give a keynote address on New Zealand's marine biodiversity. Dr Conrad Pilditch from the University of Waikato's School of Science and Engineering, who has been organising the conference with NIWA, says it is a privilege for the university to host such an event. "I am looking forward to welcoming top scientists onto our campus and to participating in some stimulating debate on a wide range of climate-change topics."