12th International Coral Reef Symposium
 
 


What's New

Jane Lubchenco
Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator, USA
From Science to Policy: Using Science to Inform Coral Reef Conservation and Management

0900-0945, Monday 9 July, Plenary Hall 2

On March 20, 2009 Jane Lubchenco was sworn in as the ninth and first woman Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Raised in Denver, Colorado, Lubchenco received a BA in biology from Colorado College, a Masters in zoology from the University of Washington and a PhD in ecology from Harvard University. Lubchenco has studied marine ecosystems around the world and championed the importance of science and its relevance to policy making and human well-being. Her scientific expertise includes oceans, climate change, and interactions between the environment and human well-being. While teaching at Harvard (1975-1977) and Oregon State University (1977-2009), she was actively engaged in discovery, synthesis, communication, and application of scientific knowledge.

A former president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the International Council for Science and the Ecological Society of America, she served 10 years on the National Science Board (Board of Directors for the National Science Foundation). From 1999-2009 she led PISCO, a large 4-university, interdisciplinary team of scientists investigating the large marine ecosystem along the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California. Lubchenco co-founded three organizations that communicate scientific knowledge to the public, policy makers, the media and industry and also served on the Pew Oceans Commission, the Joint Oceans Commission Initiative, the Aspen Institute Arctic Commission and the Council of Advisors for Google Ocean.

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Jamaluddin Jompa
Hasanuddin University, Indonesia
Scientific and Management Challenges in Conserving the Reefs in the Coral Triangle Region: Lessons Learnt from Indonesia

1400-1445, Monday 9 July, Plenary Hall 2

Jamaluddin Jompa is a Professor and Director of the Center for Coral Reef Research at Hasanuddin University in Makassar, Indonesia.

He is one of Indonesia's prominent coral reef scientists and in 2007 established the Indonesian Coral Reef Society of which he is currently the Secretary.

In addition to conducting research on coral reef ecology and management, especially in Eastern Indonesia, he has also been involved in helping the Indonesian Government as the Executive Secretary of one of the biggest coral reef management projects, the Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program (COREMAP II).

In the last 3 years, Jompa has also played important roles in the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) at both national and regional levels.

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Denis Allemand
Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Monaco
Coral Calcification: from Cell Physiology to Ocean Acidification

0830-0915, Tuesday 10 July, Plenary Hall 2

Denis Allemand is Professor of Biology at the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis and Scientific Director of the Centre Scientifique de Monaco. He obtained his PhD in pharmacological sciences in 1986 from the University of Montpellier II (France). His main field of research is on comparative physiology of marine organisms, in particular reef-building corals. He has published over 100-refereed papers and numerous book chapters.

Allemand's recent work on corals has placed particular emphasis on both biomineralization and symbiosis in corals. He is interested in the mechanism of formation of coral skeleton and more particularly on the physiology of skeletogenesis (ion transport, organic matrix characterization) and effects of environmental changes such as ocean acidification. He is also interested in the mutual adaptation of both partners (animal host and zooxanthellae) of the coral symbiotic association to the symbiotic state, and more particularly to the physiological, molecular and genomic relationship between zooxanthellae and their host.

He is a member of numerous scientific committees including the Scientific and Technical Committee of the Foundation Prince Albert II, the Scientific Committee of the Oceanographic Institute - Foundation Prince Albert I, the Scientific Committee of the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Études, the Administration Council of the Observatoire Oceanologique de Villefranche/Mer and he is also a member of the European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities. His interests also extend to archaeology and he has published extensively on his work in Provence.

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Geoffrey Jones
James Cook University, Australia
Mission impossible: unlocking the secrets of larval fish dispersal on coral reefs

1400-1445, Tuesday 10 July, Plenary Hall 2

Geoff Jones is a Professor in the School of Marine and Tropical Biology and a member of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. He completed his PhD at the University of Auckland in New Zealand and spent periods at the Universities of Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland before moving to James Cook University. He was awarded a Chair in 2006. He is one of the world's most cited authors in the fields of coral reef ecology and marine conservation biology, with over 160 refereed scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals and books.

His special interests are in the processes determining the structure and dynamics of reef fish populations, and strategies to reduce human impacts on threatened fish species. In 1995, he began to develop new approaches to determine the fate of reef fish larvae, which until that time had remained a mystery. Jones and collaborators were the first to tag and recapture marine fish larvae. He has since become a world leader in the field of marine population connectivity and its implications for the ecology, conservation and management of reef fish populations.

His recent studies in the understanding of local population connectivity demonstrate the benefits of marine reserve networks for reef fish conservation and sustainable harvesting.

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Peter Kareiva
Chief Scientist of The Nature Conservancy, USA
Just How Fragile are Coral Reefs? - It Depends

0830-0915, Wednesday 11 July, Plenary Hall 2

Peter Kareiva is Chief Scientist and Vice President of The Nature Conservancy - the world's largest conservation Non-Government Organisation. He received his PhD in 1981 from Cornell University. He has been on the faculty at Brown University, Stanford University, University of Washington, and Santa Clara University. He has also worked for NOAA Fisheries, and in 2007 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Kareiva has authored over 100 scientific articles in such diverse fields as mathematical biology, fisheries science, insect ecology, risk analysis, genetically engineered organisms, agricultural ecology, population viability analysis, landscape ecology and global climate change. He cofounded (with Gretchen Daily and Taylor Ricketts) the Natural Capital Project, which seeks to develop credible tools that allow routine valuation of Nature's assets (or ecosystem services) in a way that informs the choices governments and businesses make concerning natural resources.

In addition to conducting research, Kareiva believes that general communications and writing are essential in science, and has written (with Dr. Michelle Marvier) the conservation textbook Conservation Science: Balancing the Needs of People and Nature (Roberts & Company 2010).

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Helene Marsh
James Cook University, Australia
Conserving Coral Reef Megafauna: Issues of Ecological Process, Biodiversity, Cultural Diversity and Food Security

0830-0915, Thursday 12 July, Plenary Hall 2

Helene Marsh is Professor of Environmental Science and Dean of Graduate Research Studies at James Cook University. She was awarded her PhD from James Cook University. She is an international authority on the conservation biology of tropical coastal megafauna: dugongs, sea turtles and cetaceans. Marsh is committed to informing solutions to conservation problems and collaborates widely with natural and social scientists and stakeholders including Traditional Owners.

Much of Marsh's research and that of her post-doctoral fellows and 70+ research students has been in the field of dugong population ecology and conservation. She has authored more than 150 publications (books, book chapters and papers). Her research has informed conservation planning and management in 11 countries. Marsh is Co-Chair of the IUCN Sirenia Specialist Group and is President-Elect of the International Society of Marine Mammalogy. Her contributions have been recognised by several international awards and by her election as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

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Madeleine van Oppen
Australian Institute of Marine Science, Australia
Can Old Corals Learn New Tricks?

1400-1445, Thursday 12 July, Plenary Hall 2

Madeleine van Oppen currently holds a prestigious 4-year Australian Research Council Future Fellowship at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), where she has been since 2001. At AIMS, she leads a program on the genetics/genomics of adaptation/acclimatisation of corals to climate change. This research program includes the study of the coral host animal and several of its microbial symbionts, primarily Symbiodinium and viruses.

Her work is increasingly focusing on the development of genetic tools for coral reef management (e.g., reef connectivity, experimental evolution of Symbiodinium), and an assessment of the impacts and likely success of certain management strategies (e.g., managed translocation). Her scientific career started in the Netherlands, where she studied zooplankton communities and herbivorous coral reef fish for her MSc, and cold-water seaweeds for her PhD. After her first postdoctoral position on speciation in African cichlid fishes in UK, she started her research on reef corals in 1997 at James Cook University, Australia.

Her contributions to Australia’s coral reef science were recognised with the 2005 Dorothy Hill award for women under 40, awarded by the Australian Academy of Science.

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Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
University of Queensland, Australia
Coral Reefs and Global Change: Where do the Solutions Lie?

1515-1600, Friday 13 July, Plenary Hall 2

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg is Professor of Marine Studies, Director of the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland and Deputy-Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. He leads a research laboratory with over 25 researchers and postgraduate students who are focused on understanding global warming and ocean acidification and its effect on coral reefs.

Hoegh-Guldberg has published over 185 peer-reviewed publications and is currently Coordinating Lead Author for the 'Oceans' chapter within the IPCC 5th assessment report. He is the third most-cited author globally within the peer-reviewed literature on climate change (past 10 years). In addition to his research and administrative roles, he is also a regular contributor to the media, with his work featuring on the ABC (Catalyst), BBC (with Sir David Attenborough) and NBC (with Tom Brokaw). He is an active member of Climate Scientists Australia and maintains the science blog www.climateshifts.org.

Hoegh-Guldberg was recognised with the Eureka Prize in 1999 for research by an Australian scientist under 40. In 2009 he was awarded the Queensland Smart State Premier's Fellowship.

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Jeremy Jackson
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The future of corals and coral reefs in a rapidly changing world

0900-0945, Friday 13 July, Plenary Hall 2

Jeremy Jackson is Senior Scientist Emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution and Professor of Oceanography Emeritus at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California. He is also the Science Director of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Professor Jackson studied at the George Washington University and Yale. He is the author of more than 150 scientific publications and author or editor of eight books.

He studies human impacts on the oceans and the ecology and paleoecology of tropical marine ecosystems. Dr. Jackson is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and recipient of numerous international prizes and awards including most recently the Roger Torrey Peterson Medal from Harvard University, the Paleontological Medal, the Society for Conservation Biology LaRoe Award for Outstanding Contributions to Conservation Biology, and the BBVA International Award for Research in Ecology and Conservation.

Jackson’s work on historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems was chosen by Discover magazine as the outstanding scientific achievement of 2001. Island Press recently published his latest book, Shifting Baselines: The Past and Future of Ocean Fisheries. He divides his time between Washington, D. C. and Brooksville, Maine with his wife Nancy Knowlton.

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ARC Centre of Excellence International Society for Coral Reef Studies James Cook University International Society for Coral Reef Studies