15 Apr 2024 WABSI and Curtin Urban Biodiversity Forum
We recently hosted a forum between Curtin University and the Western Australian Biodiversity Science Institute (WABSI) urban biodiversity program to explore collaboration opportunities. The forum was well attended, with 25 attendees representing WABSI, the Ecology Discipline of the Curtin School of Molecular and Life Sciences, the Curtin School of Design and Built Environment, and the Curtin Properties, Facilities, and Development team.
The forum was chaired by Ben, and kicked off with a presentation from WABSI CEO Professor Owen Nevin on ‘End user biodiversity knowledge priorities’. WABSI Urban research Program Director, Sonja Mennen, then spoke about WABSI’s Urban research themes and focus areas.
Curtin research capabilities in the urban biodiversity space were showcased through five short talks: Dr Brenton von Takach spoke on ‘Landscape genomics in Perth’; Dr Holly Kirk presented her research on ‘Integrating Biodiversity Sensitive Urban Design (BSUD) into urban planning: approaches in applied ecology’; Associate Professor Bill Bateman provided an overview on urban ecology research undertaken by the Curtin University Behavioural Ecology Research Group; Josh Newton presented on ‘Harnessing the power of eDNA for urban biodiversity monitoring’, and Dr Boon Ong provided a snapshot of his research on ‘the Green Plot Ratio and the Urban Ecological Index’.
Following the presentations, attendees joined in discussion around their current projects and potential collaboration opportunities with each other, and where WABSI could facilitate.
The Western Australian Biodiversity Science Institute (WABSI) is a joint venture partnership representing leading biodiversity science research expertise in Western Australia. WABSI is an independent collaboration mechanism that facilitate end user driven, relevant research to create opportunities for meaningful change in biodiversity conservation and enable sustainable development. You can read more about WABSI here.
