TERN’s 2013 symposium is off to a high-flying start, with two launches at the welcome drinks at the elegant Old Parliament House in Canberra this evening, in the presence of Lord Robert May, an eminent Australian scientist who was the Chief Scientific Advisor to the government of the United Kingdom.
One was the announcement of a formal working agreement between TERN and its equivalent in the United States, the highly regarded National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). The Director of TERN, Professor Tim Clancy, and the Director, Biology, at NEON, David Tazik, signed the memorandum in front of scientists and policymakers from around Australia.
Tonight was also the official launch of AusPlots-Rangelands Survey Protocols Manual, and the AusPlots-Rangelands app for capturing field data. Launching them, the Director of the Multi-Scale Plot Network, Associate Professor Nikki Thurgate, said the manual was already being used in five states.
‘It’s the first time there is a national survey protocol for the Australian rangelands,’ Nikki says.
Tim welcomed people from around the country and international delegates, and acknowledged the dense program of the next two days.
Published in TERN e-Newsletter February 2013 special science symposium coverage
