VIDEO: Research Tuesday - climate changed

A panel of experts from the University of Adelaide came together to talk about one of the most critical issue of our time.

• what past climate change events can tell us about how Earth’s systems will react in future


• how climate change will exacerbate existing threats to species and ecosystems, including land clearance and introduced pests


• the major barriers to biodiversity conservation, and policy tools that can overcome them


• how complexity in our critical systems, such as food, energy, water and transport, is driving costly political and commercial uncertainty


• why we must all integrate understanding of climate change impacts into our every thought and action—and how we can do it.

• Professor Seth Westra leads the Food, Water and Agriculture theme within the University of Adelaide’s Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences. He has worked on multiple industry projects related to weather and climate risk management, and co-chairs the Australian Energy and Water Exchange Research Initiative.


• Dr Cesca McInerney is a Senior Lecturer in Earth Science, ARC Future Fellow and Deputy Director of the University of Adelaide’s Sprigg Geobiology Centre. Her research explores various ecosystems’ adaptations to climate change throughout history, including during the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (56 million years ago) and Neogene grassland expansion (12–3 million years ago).


• Associate Professor Patrick O’Connor is a senior environmental consultant in the University of Adelaide’s Centre for Global Food and Resources, and Chair of the National Landcare Network. His research is focused on understanding behavioural, price and policy barriers to biodiversity conservation and restoration.


• Dr Douglas Bardsley is a Senior Lecturer in geography, environment and population in the University of Adelaide’s School of Social Sciences. His research explores analysis and planning at the interface of climate change risk and socio-ecosystems, in multiple geopolitical contexts. This has included in Australia, Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, Switzerland and the European Union.