Melbourne School of Land and Environment





(Formerly The Faculty of Land and Food Resources)

April 2, 2008

Professor Loren Kellogg

Senior Research Fellow, Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science - the University of Melbourne

Lematta Professor of Engneering College of Forestry - Oregon State University

Forest Operations: Part of the Solution to Meeting Sustainable Forest Ecosystem Management Objectives

Lower Theatre, Melbourne School of Land and Environment Building
Parkville Campus

Whether forest resource management practices involve fast growing eucalyptus plantations, native forest re-growth thinning, or other ecosystem management activities, the academic discipline and research field that involves planning, conducting and monitoring forest operations, is a crucial link to achieving a broad range of sustainable forest resource management objectives. This lecture will present three contemporary examples that demonstrate important synergy between ecosystem science and forest operations in meeting resource management objectives that are common to both Australia and the Pacific Northwest Region of the USA:

(1) forest operation changes for harvesting a growing trend toward a small tree size fibre supple

(2) forest fire hazard reduction and biomass utilisation; and

(3) native forest and riparian area structural diversity management.

An understanding of the capabilities and limitations of forest operation techniques is important for future forest ecosystem management education and should be a visible component of the targeted knowledge base and future capacity building.

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May 7, 2008

Professor Greg Jones

Southern Oregon University

2008 Miegunyah Lecure -
Impacts on Terroir: How have Viticultural Terroirs Changed and What does the Future Hold?

Turner Theatre, Botany Building
Parkville Campus

Climate change is threatening century old relationships between particular grape varieties, their regional climatic suitability, the soils they are grown in, and the resulting wine styles and quality - the concept of terroir. The global reach of climate change results in all wine terroirs being affected to a greater or lessor extent. In this sense the wine industry can be regarded as a 'canary' for all agricultural industries in the face of climate change.

Professor Jones, an eminent atmospheric scientist, will examine the observed and predicted impacts of increasing temperatures and changing water availability on the major wine industries of the world with particular reference to the contrasting fortunes of the Australian, American, and French industries. In the course of his lecture he will demonstrate the power of quantitative temporal and spatial analysis to determine the likely impacts of climate change on wine production and provide insights into the types of adaptive strategies available to the global wine industry.

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June 4, 2008

Professor Philippa (Pip) Pattison

President, Academic Board
The University of Melbourne

Social and biophysical systems: Understanding the Social Dimension

Lower Theatre, Melbourne School of Land and Environment Building
Parkville Campus

In this talk, Pip will describe work with Garry Robins and other collaborators on the important contribution of social factors – especially the social networks that connect human decision-makers to social institutions and to each other – to the management of biophysical systems.

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August 6, 2008

Dr Elizabeth Finkel

Journalist, author, researcher

The vexed issue of GM crops: A journalist’s journey through the issues

Lower Theatre, Melbourne School of Land and Environment Building
Parkville Campus

With the cost of food skyrocketing worldwide and the dire concerns over global warming, the question of how to farm sustainably has never been more acute.   It has also never been more contentious.   There is enormous opposition to GM crops yet they offer farmers the ability to use less pesticide, less water and less nitrogen.   In northern China they have improved yields, reduced costs and slashed pesticide poisonings down to a quarter of what they once were.

The public rely on journalists as intermediaries in this debate.   In this Dean’s lecture, science journalist and author Elizabeth Finkel will take the audience along on her journey through the issues.

Due to a power failure, a recording of this lecture is not available. However, Dr Finkel has written an article about her presentation:

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September 3, 2008

Mr Arron Wood

BForestSci graduate
MD - Fire Starter
2001 Young Australian of the Year
2006 United Nations Individual Award for Outstanding Service to the Environment

Climate Change: A Huge Opportunity... Finally Some Good News!

Lower Theatre, Melbourne School of Land and Environment Building
Parkville Campus

You've heard it all before – the world's going to end, we're to blame and there's not much we can do!  But what if Australia truly led local action on climate change? What if we truly valued our abilities and reflected this in genuine community involvement? Can what we do in our towns really make a difference to our global climate crisis? Join current Prime Minister's Environmentalist of the Year Arron Wood as he answer with a resounding "yes!" Arron will explore how climate change may just be Australia's greatest opportunity to become a global environmental leader and generate billions of dollars in the process.  Having recently returned from a Churchill Fellowship that saw him work with the United Nations in New York and Geneva, Arron will detail how Australia can become an environmental education and innovation global centre.  The presentation will also ask questions like:

• What has the environment got to do with depression?
• How can one person begin to make a difference to a global issue?
• What sort of future can Australia expect? 

Combined with some alarming facts and humorous personal stories this is not your standard environmental lecture – prepare to be involved in the presentation!

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September 24, 2008

Professor German Spangenberg

Department of Primary Industries, Victorian AgriBiosciences Centre

Plant Gene Technology in a Climate of Change for Food, Feed and Energy

Lower Theatre, Melbourne School of Land and Environment Building
Parkville Campus

Significant progress has been made in the development and exploitation of plant gene technologies derived from genomic discoveries. These will find applications in food, feed, health, bioenergy and bioindustry and contribute to addressing challenges for global food security in a climate of change. Recent advances and applications of high-throughput methodologies for plant functional genomics – from genome to phenome - in crops and pastures that provide the knowledge base for these developments will be described.

October 1, 2008

Dr Geoffrey Smithers

Food Science Australia

Functional Foods in the 21st Century – Delivering on the Promise

Lower Theatre, Melbourne School of Land and Environment Building
Parkville Campus

Consumers in the 21st century are demanding 'miracle foods' that are not only safe and nutritious, but also natural, economical, convenient, great tasting, and enhance health and well-being. The functional foods market, currently valued at >US$70b globally, is growing exponentially. However, food product applications for new and novel bioactives (eg, omega-3 oils, vitamins and probiotic bacteria) are often restricted due to both their instability and their sometimes undesirable impact on the final food.  In addressing these challenges, cost-effective delivery systems will be critical.  MicroMAX®, a novel platform encapsulation technology, uses only natural food grade materials and standard food processing equipment, with positive results. This, and future scientific innovation has impact for both consumers and food companies in the 21st century.

October 13, 2008

Professor Stephen Daniels

Landscape Stories: Arts and Humanities Approaches to Environmental Change

Lower Theatre, Melbourne School of Land and Environment Building
Parkville Campus

Landscape and environment are currently of compelling cultural significance, as  multi-disciplinary fields of scholarly research, sites of artistic creativity and arenas of public concern. 

This lecture will focus on the production and reception of landscape stories, in a range of texts and images, in particular times and places, including ones at the interface of land and water. More broadly it will raise the question of how arts and humanities perspectives may contribute to wider physical and social science concerns with living with environmental change.    

October 21, 2008

Dr John Williams

November 21st, 2008

Dr Pichu Rengasamy

University of Adelaide

Agricultural Productivity - Innovative Strategies to Tackle Multiple Soil Constraints

G.W. Leeper Memorial Lecture in association with the Victorian Branch of the Australian Society of Soil Science Inc. (ASSSI)

Sunderland Theatre, Medicine Building
Parkville Campus
5pm

Crop yield loss due to soil constraints in dryland agriculture in Australia amounts to billions of dollars per year. The soil constraints such as sodicity, salinity, acidity, compaction, nutrient deficiency and toxicity occur in both topsoil and subsoil layers.

While some soil management techniques have been successful in solving soil problems involving single constraint, management strategies for solving multiple constraints have proven to be uneconomical. There is a gap in our knowledge in identifying the predominant, or a common, factor when different issues cause constraints to plant growth.