Our Coast to Coral Community Lecture series is back for 2019! Come and join Reef Check Australia and friends at Underwater World Sealife - Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast, Australia for an evening of discovery, inspiration and appreciation of our local marine, coastal and catchment environments. Each month we have a new, interesting and engaging speaker.

This month we will hear from Megan Saunders, Senior Research Scientist at CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere in Brisbane, about Reef Restoration.

Ms Saunders’ research focuses on finding solutions for environmental issues in coastal marine ecosystems. She is currently researching coastal marine restoration and blue carbon, with previous works looking at the impacts of sea-level rise and land-use change, as well as management actions to mitigate those impacts on coastal systems.

About the talk:

Active restoration of coastal marine habitats can play an important role in counteracting coastal degradation; safeguarding biodiversity and helping ecosystems adapt to climate change. Unfortunately, coastal restoration has had a slow start due in part to: 1) uncertainty in whether marine ecosystems can be restored over large spatial scales and whether these systems will persist over the long term; and 2) a perceived low return on investment compared to other conservation actions.

Changing these perspectives is vital to ensure effective restoration activities. Megan will be showcasing how marine restoration projects can be conducted over large scales, can last over time, projects can be cost-effective, patches can expand outwards, and techniques can advance. These bright spots indicate real possibility to which other projects can aspire and learn from.

6:15: Grab a seat
6:30: Talk kicks-off
7:15: Pizza & good sea-minded conversation!

Entry is $2 (which gets you pizza at the end).

For more information or to RSVP contact [email protected] or head over to our Facebook Event page.

This initiative is hosted by Reef Check Australia, and proudly supported by Sunshine Coast Council's Environment Levy partnerships grant and the June Canavan Foundation with amazing in-kind support from SEA LIFE Sunshine Coast.