Thursday 30 June 2022 – 16:00 – 17:00 AEST
Chrissy Elmer – Science and Technology Program Manager, Accounting for Nature
Topic: Accounting for Nature – an emerging global framework for biodiversity metrics
Biography: Chrissy Elmer is an ecologist with seven years’ experience in academic research, government, and private consulting. She has broad interests in ecology, GIS and economics and holds a Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Plant Science and a Master of Environmental Management in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. As the Science and Technology Program Manager, her main role involves helping Proponents develop new fit for purpose and scientifically robust Methods to monitor the condition of environmental assets. To balance the cost of monitoring with scientific accuracy, these Methods are increasingly relying on new and emerging technologies that provide innovative approaches to environmental monitoring.
Dr Liz O’Brien – Chief Executive Officer, Queensland Trust for Nature
Topic: How Queensland Trust for Nature uses biodiversity metrics
Biography: Dr Liz O’Brien is the Chief Executive Officer for Queensland Trust for Nature. Appointed as a Non-Executive Director of Queensland Trust for Nature in 2019, Dr Liz O’Brien recently stepped down from her position on the board to join the team in QTFN as the General Manager – Partnerships. Liz spent her early years amongst the sugar cane, reefs and rainforests of the Whitsunday region and is passionate about applying her expertise to support the enhancement of biodiversity to deliver a range of returns – environmental, economic, social and cultural. Her multi-sectoral career has spanned industry-applied research, Queensland public sector policy and investment roles, and university research management, partnership brokering and strategy development. Liz also serves a Non-Executive Director of the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre.
Prof Hugh Possingham – Queensland Chief Scientist, Department of Environment and Science
Topic: First steps to implementing biodiversity metrics
Biography: Professor Hugh Possingham became Queensland Chief Scientist in September 2020. He is a conservation scientist and mathematician who has held positions in the university, public and not-for profit sectors. He is a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. He completed his PhD at Oxford University in 1987 as a Rhodes Scholar. After postdocs at Stanford and Australian National University he became the inaugural Professor and Chair of Environmental Sciences at The University of Adelaide in 1995. His 20 year career at The University of Queensland includes periods as Australian Research Council Professorial, Federation and Laureate Fellows and directorship of a Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions. He has supervised over 200 honours students, doctoral candidates and postdoctoral fellows. In 2016 he became the Chief Scientist at The Nature Conservancy, a global conservation organisation operating in 79 countries. According to the Web of Science he has published >650 peer-reviewed publications, >30 in Nature and Science; Google scholar h-index >130.