Key Note Speaker

Supporting conservation and land managers - climate adaption interventions

Jess Melbourne-Thomas, CSIRO Environment

Climate change is already impacting the distribution and abundance of many animal and plant species in Australia. Conservation and land management is undergoing a shift from considering intervention and management in a static climate to considering adapting to long-term climate change.

Extreme events and seasonal conditions must be considered in planning. Understanding the current and projected impacts of these conditions will help select likely options for long-term adaptation. This presentation will describe work by CSIRO through the NESP Climate Systems Hub which is supporting improved conservation success for Australian species, ecological communities, and protected places threatened by climate change and climate-related extreme events.

Through testing and co-developing with stakeholders, CSIRO are producing regionally-specific situational reports to provide climate information at different time scales and a database of adaptation options for species and habitats to help on-ground managers select options for long-term adaptation.

Dr Jess Melbourne-Thomas is a Transdisciplinary Researcher and Knowledge Broker and leads a socio-ecological systems team with CSIRO Environment in Hobart. She has a background in mathematical modelling and climate change science, and her work focuses on connecting research to decision-making for sustainability and climate change adaptation.

Jess was a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2019 Special Report on the Oceans & Cryosphere in a Changing Climate and was one of Australia's first 30 Superstars of STEM. In 2020 Jess was named the Tasmanian Australian of the Year.