Australia
Climate Change: The Reefs and Waterways of Australia
July 22-August 1, 2008
Itinerary
This 11-day seminar begins in Sydney and ends in Cairns and comprises field trips to the Murray Darling basin in the states of New South Wales and Victoria and the Great Barrier Reef in Far North Queensland. Group domestic flights to the Basin and to the Great Barrier Reef are included in the seminar fee.
Seminar Fee
CIEE Member: $3,125 Non-Member: $3,325
Academic Content (please note this is tentative and subject to change)
Lectures
- Climate Change and Australia’s Water Crisis
- Water Management in Urban Settings
- The Politics of Water Management: the Murray Darling Example
- Aboriginal Involvement in Water Management
- Industry Perspectives on Irrigation
- A Healthy Reef: the Impact of Climate Change
- Hinterland Water Management Issues and Impact on the Reef
Co-curricular Site Visits & Field Trips (please note some of these excursions are subject to water flow and weather conditions)
- Sydney city tour
- The University of Sydney and James Cook University, Townsville
- Murray Darling Freshwater Research Centre
- Hume Weir Dam
- Guided marine eco-tours of Barmah Wetlands and Forest and Hattah Lakes, Living Murray iconic sites
- Dharnya Aboriginal Cultural Centre
- Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
- Banana and sugar growing sites in Innisfail and Tully, to demonstrate best practice environmental and agricultural management and impact of catchment water on the reef
- Day-long catamaran excursion to Michaelmas Cay, one of the most important bird-nesting sanctuaries on the Reef, and to the hard coral gardens of the Outer Barrier Reef, for optional snorkeling or scuba diving
Rationale
While oil dominates today’s news, some scholars posit that water will drive future challenges and conflicts. Whether it is rising, depleting, or heating up, the effects are already felt on coastlines and in semi-arid regions around the world. This seminar offers the opportunity to learn about water and climate changes in Australia, after Antarctica the world’s most arid continent. Australians recently were faced with another summer of water restrictions; food prices driven up to unprecedented levels by yet another year of drought, and the prospect of a high proportion of the aging farm population walking off the land if spring rains don’t come. There is also the potential immeasurable loss of some of Australia’s unique biota and ecology.
The focus throughout this seminar will be the ecological, political and social impact of climate change on Australia’s two fragile aquatic environments. The seminar visits the Murray Darling Basin in New South Wales and Victoria: the source of water for much of Australia’s ‘fertile crescent‘; home of internationally important wetlands; but now under threat and the subject of contested government and environmental intervention. Here participants will consider environment, infrastructure, irrigation and fresh water research, within the context of managing this threatened resource. Participants will also visit the iconic Great Barrier Reef in Far North Queensland, where scientists seek to make the Reef as healthy and resilient as possible, through careful management of catchment water, to help enable this unique marine system to withstand the impact of global warming. Accompanying the seminar in both Queensland and the Murray-Darling will be local water researchers who will be able to give in situ lectures on field trips.
Host Institution
CSIRO, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation was formed in 1926 and is Australia's national science agency. Its areas of research include: astronomy & space, energy, environment, farming & food, health & wellbeing, information & communication technology, manufacturing, mining & minerals, and transport & infrastructure. CSIRO is also involved in more than 740 research activities internationally, working with leading scientific organizations in over 80 countries with partners and customers ranging from foreign governments, small companies to large multi-nationals and international foundations.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) is the principal adviser to the Commonwealth Government on the care and development of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The Authority undertakes a variety of activities including: research, monitoring and interpreting data; environmental impact assessment; developing and implementing zoning and management plans; providing information, and educational services and marine environmental management advice.
Seminar Leadership
Dr Jan Gothard is senior lecturer in history at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, CIEE Australia Representative and past Resident Director, CIEE Study Centre, Murdoch University. She teaches Australian history, including a new course on environmental history. Her research interests presently focus on migration and disability; her publications include work on female migration, Asia-Australia relations, and the White Australia policy.
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