Hello members,

The Royal Society of South Australia would like to invite you to our October meeting and scientific presentation. Being so close to the end of the year, this is our last of the regular meetings (November will be a bit different), so if you have been planning on making a meeting but haven't yet, this is your chance!

This month Dr Georgina Wood is presenting on her research which focuses on the beauty and importance of kelps in coastal ecosystems.

The meeting, held on Thursday the 10th of October, will begin at 6:30 pm, with nibble and refreshments as well as opportunities for pre-meeting discussions and networking beginning at 6:00 pm. A small donation to the RSSA is greatly appreciated to partake in this and support the continued provision of these pre-meeting treats.

This event will be held in-person in the Royal Society rooms, but we will simultaneously live-stream the meeting via Zoom for those not able to attend on the night.

To attend either in person, or online, you must register here. The zoom link will be sent to you on registration. Please feel free to share this event with your institution or networks.

If in-person tickets are sold out, please be aware that we are unable to admit more people than our room capacity. If online tickets are sold out, please contact admin@rssa.org.au and we can supply the zoom link to you.

For more information on the location of the RSSA rooms, please visit https://www.rssa.org.au/contact/

Dr Georgina Wood

Abstract

George will share with us the beauty and importance of kelps in coastal ecosystems, and outline some of the largest problems that kelp forests around the world currently face. She will then provide some insight into how researchers at Flinders and elsewhere are taking genetic tools underwater to better understand kelp genetics, allowing them to build new populations where they have been lost, as well as develop guidelines for an emerging South Australian kelp aquaculture industry and enhance reef resilience into the future.

Bio

George Wood is an Early Career Australian Research Council Fellow at Flinders University and Adjunct Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia. Originally from Sydney, she has a predilection for temperate marine forests, and has conducted research spanning Australia’s Great Southern Reef and as far afield as Norway. George works at the frontier of ecology and evolutionary biology, has led several marine restoration projects in collaboration with industry and is passionate about developing and applying novel techniques to transform the way we understand and manage marine ecosystems under climate change. George is currently an editor of Restoration Ecology and a coordinator of the Green Gravel Action Group for kelp forest restoration.