International Activities
A number of ILWS members regularly undertake activities, not necessarily research related, that have an international focus. They include:
A/Prof Gary Luck (ecologist)
A/Prof Gary Luck, who did a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford University in the U.S. (2001 to 2003) is a major contributor to international research collaborations including a European Union 6th Framework Program project. In 2003 A/Prof Luck published a highly-cited conceptual paper that was the first to outline an approach to studying the contribution of species populations to delivering ecosystem services through the novel concept of ‘service providing units.’
In 2006 this concept was adopted by a consortium of 23 research institutions in an EU 6th Framework Program coordinated action, ‘Rationalising biodiversity conservation in dynamic ecosystems’ (RUBICODE www.Rubicode.net). It has been instrumental in guiding the assessment of ecosystem service research in this project. As part of this project, A/Prof Luck, one of only five researchers outside the EU invited to participate, has contributed to seven peer-reviewed and general publications and attended four scientific and stakeholder workshops.
He has also led a large group of researchers in extending the service-providing unit concept and uniting it with the concept of ‘ecosystem service providers’ developed by Prof Claire Kremen at the University of California, Berkeley. He has also worked with A/Prof Kai Chan from the University of British Columbia and John Fay from Duke University in the U.S. on a global assessment of the capacity to protect ecosystem services and biodiversity in the world’s watersheds.
A/Prof Dirk Spennemann (archaeologist and historian)
From 1989 to 1993 Dirk was the Government archaeologist in the Marshall Islands in Micronesia. Since then much of his international research has focussed on the management of cultural heritage in the Central and Northern Pacific where he has been examining how (and which aspects of) heritage are being valued by Micronesian communities. He has published extensively on aspects of the German colonial presence in Micronesia; published several books on the German colony of the Mariana Islands- Typhoons in Micronesia (2004), Edge of Empire, (2007), Luta: I tiempon Aleman (2008); and has edited historic documents- The First Descriptions of the Southern Marshalls ( 2004) and Pacific literature -Louis Becke, His Native Wife (2005).
Dirk, who regularly visits Micronesia, serves on advisory boards for the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau. His previous work on tattooing in the Marshall Islands was recently translated into Czech- Tetování na Marshallovych Ostrovech (2007) with a new edition coming out this year- Tattooing in the Marshall Islands. Honolulu: Bess Press, (2009).
As a result of previous extensive heritage management work on Japanese World War II era sites in the Marshall Islands and Chuuk (Fed States of Micronesia), Dirk was asked by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the US National Park Service in 2007 to develop conservation plans for the Japanese WWII guns on Kiska in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. This project has recently been expanded to encompass all Japanese and US cultural resources and is currently (since June 2009) under way.
Dr Joanne Millar (social scientist)
What do shrimp, poultry and forages have in common? Not much technically, but smallholder rural farmers in South East Asia depend on shrimp aquaculture and raising livestock for income generation. Dr Joanne Millar, Senior Lecturer in the School of Environmental Sciences, is working on several research projects in Laos and Indonesia aimed at improving smallholder farming systems.
Dr Millar uses action research to evaluate and improve how government agencies work with local farmers to adapt technologies and improve production (known as extension). Funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Joanne's research involves: 1) researching effective ways to scale out small scale livestock production in five ethnically diverse provinces of Laos; 2) designing culturally appropriate extension systems for shrimp production in Central Java and South Sulawesi in Indonesia, 3) assisting with surveys on livestock movements in eastern Indonesia to control avian flu, and 4) conducting and evaluating extension training in both countries.
Dr Millar pictured above, speaking with a shrimp farmer in Java, Indonesia.
Partner organisations include the Lao National Agriculture and Forestry Extension Service, Lao Department of Livestock and Fisheries, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, University of Sydney, Indonesian Departments of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Disease Investigation Centre, and Indonesian Universities of Mataram (Lombok), Gajah Madah (Java), Udayana (Bali) and Hasanuddin (South Sulawesi). Dr Millar has led two ACIAR projects in Laos since 2003 and is currently collaborating with three University of Sydney ACIAR projects led by veterinary scientists. In 2006 and 2007, Dr Millar and Dr Digby Race ran training courses for Indonesian and Lao scientists on 'the social and community dimensions of agriculture, forestry and fisheries to assist them with implementing and evaluating their ACIAR projects.
Professor Max Finlayson (Institute director and wetland ecologist)
Professor Finlayson is engaged in a number of activities with an international focus. Prime among these would be his involvement in the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the first modern inter-governmental treaty between nations aiming to conserve natural resources. With 160 member countries, the Convention’s broad aim is to halt the world wide loss of wetlands and to conserve, through wise use and management, those that remain.
Max was recently reappointed to Ramsar’s Scientific and Technical Review Panel leading the themetatic working area on wetlands and climate change. He is the longest serving member of the Panel which he chaired from 2002 to 2005. Max is often asked to input into various reviews and decision making processes related to his fields of expertise both in Australia and overseas.