What's On at UWA

Understanding how the physical, chemical and biological attributes of the ocean interact is important because it provides a way to forecast fisheries productivity and the ecosystem effects of climate change. Yet, obtaining high-resolution and accurate taxonomic data on microscopic plankton species (...)

Title: Determining extinction risk in Western Australia's endemic reef fishes

Abstract: In the terrestrial environment, endemic species have experienced the highest rates of extinction over the last 400 years because they exhibit a range of vulnerable ecological, biological and genetic (...)

Cartilaginous fishes are comprised of approximately c. 1185 species worldwide and occupy a range of niches and primary habitats. It is a widely accepted view that neural development can reflect morphological adaptations and sensory specializations and that similar patterns of brain organization (...)

CBSM aims to promote biological science in Western Australia by encouraging the interaction of scientists, students and industry representatives from all aspects of life science.

The meeting is designed to provide a platform for the exchange of ideas and expertise to keep the life (...)

Title: Toward the prediction of noncoherent tides

Abstract: Ocean tides are among the best observed and most predictable geophysical phenomena. However, in the 1960's Walter Munk and David Cartwright discovered that the phase and amplitude of tidal motions vary in time and are not (...)

Title:Observations of Internal Waves from Autonomous Gliders - studies from Luzon Strait and from Tasmania.

Abstract: The vertical isopycnal displacements associated with internal waves are estimated using autonomous underwater gliders. Although they travel relatively slowly, the (...)

Organisms living in cold environments must possess enzymes which function at lower temperatures in order to survive. Humans have found uses for these enzymes in the food and processing industries, domestic products and for biotechnological applications. This, along with their potential for (...)

The Eastern Front—Museums and Archaeology in Western Australia on the Indian Ocean

Abstract: In June 2011, the Western Australian (WA) Museum established a partnership with the British Museum. The signing of a memorandum of understanding between both institutions was witnessed by (...)

With another very dry winter just passing, we can see that one of the greatest impacts of climate change on Australia is the drying of the South-West of the WA. If we add this climate pattern to the growing pattern of resource development, population growth and overuse of some of our scarce water (...)

Title: Simple bodies of calcaronean sponges are products of complex developmental toolkits

Abstract: Evolution of animal body plans, and genomic changes that are underlying the morphological changes, are key biological problems. From cnidarians to humans, bodies are patterned by a (...)

How does a Venus flytrap know when to snap shut? How do flowers know when to show their pretty colours? Can plants actually hear the chatter of the neighbourhood? This seminar is a window open onto the realm of plants, one hour detour into the history of how we perceive them, what we know about (...)

Title: The Australian Coastal Ocean Radar Network facility of IMOS – present and future.

Abstract: HF ocean radars provide maps of surface currents over meso-scale areas of coastal ocean and make it possible to map real-time dynamics of sea surface currents across substantial areas of (...)

Prof Charitha Pattiaratchi (UWA) WAIMOS Infrastructure in the Kimberley

West Australian Integrated Marine Observation System (WAIMOS) is a node of the Integrated Marine Observation System (IMOS) and with recent co-investment from the WA State Government, extended its deployment of (...)

Identifying structure in aquatic environments and showing the relationship to phytoplankton diversity is challenging because it is difficult to make direct measurements of all relevant variables at the necessary temporal and spatial scales. Two new approaches are demonstrated, which allow (...)

Title: Can Law Protect Sharks? Enhancing legal frameworks for the conservation and management of sharks

Abstract: Sharks are threatened by a range of activities including fishing and tourism as well as environmental impacts such as habitat loss and pollution. Addressing these challenges (...)

A. Kimberley Lema1,2, Bette L. Willis1, and David G. Bourne2

1ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville 4811, Australia ([email protected]; [email protected]) 2Australian Institute of Marine (...)

Extreme rainfall over the south and north-west of Western Australia and the Sydney region of NSW over the last fifty years has been modelled using a Bayesian hierarchical approach based on statistical extreme value theory. Spatial variability of the extreme rainfall distribution is modelled using a (...)

Title: Coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis: evolution, ecology and interaction states

Abstract: Corals form an obligate symbiosis with unicellular photosynthetic dinoflagellates. The diversity of dinoflagellates associated with a host is the result of both evolutionary and ecological (...)

Physical processes in lakes are the result of a large number of different mechanisms occurring over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales affecting ecosystem function in a variety of ways. Hence, a deep understanding of the lake hydrodynamics and its variability is essential in understanding (...)

Beach morphology is the result of complex interactions between sand transport, mean sea level, wind, surface gravity waves, and currents, all of which act over a range of temporal and spatial scales. Interactions with rocky landforms add another level of complexity to the mechanisms of beach (...)