Marine scientists gather at University of Waikato

29 July, 2013

Marine scientists gather at University of Waikato

Around 500 experts in aquatic sciences will gather in Hamilton in August for one of the biggest conferences of its type to be held in the region.

The conference – Aquatic Science at the Interface - will bring together members of the New Zealand Freshwater Sciences Society, the New Zealand Marine Sciences Society and the Australian Society for Fish Biology over five days.

The focus of the conference will be the interface of science with social, cultural and economic perspectives and is being held at several venues at the University of Waikato.

Included on the list of aquatic experts speaking at the conference is Waikato-Tainui’s Tukoroirangi Morgan, who is co-chair of the Waikato River Authority, Rod Connolly from Griffiths University in Queensland, Lindsay Chatterton from the Great Lakes Region in the US and NIWA Chief Scientist Dr Clive Howard-Williams.

There will also be a host of presentations – many by University of Waikato staff and students - on a raft of subjects, including snapper research, aquaculture, food production, the Southern Ocean, whitebait and the latest ongoing research from the Rena.

Included in the Rena-related papers to be delivered at the conference are ones about its impact on surf clams, an analysis of oil-dispersal modelling, the ecological impacts on the Astrolabe rock itself and the impacts on juvenile kingfish of exposure to heavy fuel oil and the dispersant Corexit 9500.

Fresh water sciences will also be well covered at the conference, with everything from the state of the Manawatu River, reproductive cycles of freshwater mussels in Lake Taupo, hapu partnerships in tuna research and competing needs in the management of the Waikato River.

The conference runs from August 19-23.

ENDS

© Scoop Media