News from IAE

Number of news items   13    |    Order display by   Most recent   From the beginning        |    IAE news archive   
Professor Charles Krebs

9 May 2013
IAE 'Thinker in Residence' Professor Charles Krebs' new book
Population fluctuations, or outbreaks, of rodents constitute one of the classic problems of animal ecology, and in 'Population Fluctuations in Rodents', Charles Krebs sifts through the last eighty years of research to draw out exactly what we know about rodent outbreaks and what should be the agenda for future research. More details, reviews and the table of contents can be found on the University of Chicago Press Books website.

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Dr Brenda Dyack

19 April 2013
What is the value of an economist for an ecologist?
As part of the IAE Seminar Series Dr Brenda Dyack, CRN Senior Research Fellow (Environmental Economics), will offer a condensed package of how an economist approaches concepts and issues such as value, efficiency, optimality, externalities and trade-offs with an emphasis on how we go about grappling with the challenge of optimal resource allocation when it comes to the environment. The seminar is on Tuesday, 7 May at 4.30pm in Building 6, Level C, Room 34.

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Professor Scott Edwards

5 April 2013
Evolutionary Biology - Professor Scott Edwards
As part of the 2013 Seminar Series a public lecture 'Evolutionary Biology: Answering Old Questions with the New Genomics' will be presented by Professor Scott Edwards from Harvard University. Professor Edwards' research focuses on many aspects of vertebrate molecular evolution and population genetics, with an emphasis on birds, including evolutionary history and phylogeography, comparative genomics, disease ecology and population genetics.

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Professor Jenny Graves

3 April 2013
Are men doomed?
IAE 'Thinker in Residence' Professor Jenny Graves in a public lecture at the Academy of Science predicted that men are sliding towards extinction. Her prediction hinges around the number of genes on the male and female sex chromosomes. The poorly designed Y chromosome that makes men is degrading rapidly and will disappear, even if humans are still around. The process is likely to happen within the next five million years and it could have begun in some isolated groups Professor Graves said.

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Professor Richard Duncan - Photo by Michelle McAulay

28 March 2013
How human settlement has impacted on Pacific Islands bird life
IAE Conservation Ecologist Richard Duncan and colleagues have explored the magnitude and pattern of one of the largest known human-caused extinction events, which occurred on remote Pacific Islands between 3,500 to 700 years ago, when overhunting and deforestation by humans wiped out thousands of bird populations. The findings reveal that nearly two-thirds of the landbird populations vanished in the years between the arrival of the first humans and European colonisation.

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Adjunct Professional Jerry Olsen

26 March 2013
Canberra Birds of Prey: IAE Seminar Series
Jerry Olsen has studied birds of prey in the Canberra region since 1975 and published some 100 papers and articles and five books on raptors. In 2012 his book 'Australian High Country Owls' received a Whitley Award. Canberra is recognised as a city of raptors and in his talk he will briefly discuss the breeding species found around the ACT region and outline some local studies on Peregrines and eagles, pointing to differences between our local raptors and their counterparts in the Northern Hemisphere.

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Professor Charles Krebs

8 February 2013
Grasslands in Peril: Conservation and Restoration
IAE Thinker in Residence, Professor Charles Krebs, will present an IAE Seminar Series lecture on the topic 'Grasslands in Perial: Conservation and Restoration'. Professor Krebs is a world renowned scientist with an impressive list of awards and distinctions to his name. He will review what controls the global distribution of grasslands, and how they are maintained by fire and grazing and discuss two examples of grassland restoration and the time frame required for restoration.

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Dr Bob Brown

6 February 2013
Dr Bob Brown to deliver 2013 Krebs Lecture
The annual Krebs Lecture for 2013 will be delivered by Dr Bob Brown on Monday 18th February, asking the question: Is Democracy Failing the Biosphere? Bob Brown is the former leader of the Australian Greens, a medical doctor, environmental activist and chair of the Bob Brown Foundation. In January 2013, it was announced that he would be taking over as the leader of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a non-profit, marine conservation organisation.

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Radar Entomolgy

4 January 2013
Tracking insects with radar
IAE's Alistair Drake has co-authored a new book titled 'Radar Entomology - Observing Insect Flight and Migration'. As many of the world's most serious agricultural pests are highly migratory, special-purpose radars are being used to track their movement. This book describes how radar can be used to study insect flight, in both its migratory and non-migratory forms, and it presents the principal findings of the numerous studies that have been made to date.

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Wedge-tailed Eagle

7 December 2012
Australia's first tracked Wedge-tailed Eagle
IAE Honours Candidate, Felicity Hatton, with her IAE supervisor, Jerry Olsen, have captured and tagged the first Wedge-tailed Eagle in Australia. Felicity received a call on November 27th from Southside Rangers that the young injured eagle had been spotted. After housing the bird for a night, during which it was fed, weighed and measured, it was released fitted with a satellite tracking unit. It's movements can now be monitored on a daily basis.

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Susan Powell

6 December 2012
Sue Powell named 2012 ACT Sportstar of the Year
IAE Research Fellow Dr Sue Powell has won a back-to-back ACT Sportstar of the year award at the recent annual presentation dinner. In a 12 month period she has risen from World Champion to Paralympian Champion when she claimed gold and silver medals at the 2012 London Paralympics. Performing as a C4 cyclist she broke the world record by two seconds to win the individual pusuit.

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Fox predator in Tasmania

5 December 2012
Mapping the distribution of foxes in Tasmania
IAE Professor in Wildlife Genetics Stephen Sarre is the leader of a team that has been using novel DNA detection techniques to map the presence of foxes in Tasmania. Finding that foxes are widespread in northern and eastern Tasmania the team predicts that further distribution of the predator will have devastating consequences on the island's wildlife. Read Claudia Doman's article on the UC website's 'Monitor Online'.

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Applied Population and Community Ecology

1 December 2012
New book by Jim Hone launched at IAE's Convivium
Jim Hone's new book titled 'Applied Population and Community Ecology: The Case of Feral Pigs in Australia' is part of the Zoological Society of London's 'Conservation Science and Practice Series'. It evaluates theory in population and community ecology using a case study of feral pigs in the high country of south-eastern Australia. The book presents research results of many observational, experimental and modelling studies comparing them with related studies from around the world.

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