Speaker program for the 2016 DIG Conference

The 2016 DIG Conference is just around the corner and we’ve got an exciting line-up of speakers for you. Friday July 22nd will be a day full of interesting presentations from some very interesting poeople. Our keynote speaker for this year’s conference is Dr Nari Williams from the SCION research team in Rotorua, New Zealand. Nari will be speaking about the Healthy trees, healthy future program she has been leading. Nari will be presenting Healthy Trees, Healthy Future: Enabling technologies to combat Phytophthora pathogens. 

From Murdoch University’s Centre for Phytophthora Science and Management (CPSM) we will be joined by Dr Bill Dunstan, Briony Williams and PhD students, Manisha Kunadiya, Louise Croeser and Sarah Sapsford. Bill will be giving an overview of recent work by the CPSM and will talk about his exciting work on eradicating Phytophthora cinnamomi post-mining in haul roads and stock-piles with his presentation Post-mining eradication of P. cinnamomi in haul roads and stockpiles. Both Briony and PhD student Manisha will be talking about the detection of Phytophthoras with Briony presenting Best-practice baiting protocol for the detection of Phytophthora species in soil and root samples and Manisha presenting New tools for the detection of Phytophthora cinnamomi in environmental samples following eradication treatments. PhD students Louise and Sarah will be presenting on their research  projects on WA’s iconic marri (Corymbia calophylla) tree with Louise presenting The role of Phytophthora in Corymbia calophylla (marri) canker disease and Sarah presenting Biotic and abiotic factors predisposing marri (Corymbia calophylla) to canker disease caused by Quambalaria coryecup.

Our DIG 2016 key sponsor and key partner in the fight against Phytophthora Dieback, the Department of Parks and Wildlife, are providing three speakers to talk about management of Phytophthora Dieback within the department; Peter Blankendaal – Disease and Hygiene Standards Officer, Bob Huston – Perth HIlls District Nature Conservation Program Coordinator and Malcolm Grant – National Park Ranger (Fitzgerald River National Park). Under the title ‘Never Say Die’ to dieback Peter will give a short analysis of the Department of Parks and Wildlife registered interpreter’s system and Bob will talk about recent Phytophthora Dieback management works undertaken within the Muchea East Priority Protection Area with a particular focus on the Green Bridging.
Mal Grant, a man who has been front and centre of the Phytophthora Dieback fight in the Fitzgerald River National Park for much of his career, will be presenting Historical management of Pc in the Fitzgerald River National Park.

Also from State Government, Garnet Gregory – Regional Materials Manager for Main Roads WA Wheatbelt Region – will be talking about their dieback eradication trial, which is part of a wider strategy to secure high quality road building materials – a really important Phytophthora Dieback management strategy. Garnet will be presenting Main Roads WA Wheatbelt Region – Strategic Gravel – Dieback Eradication Trial.

South Coast Natural Resource Management’s Elissa Forbes will be joining us to present Project Dieback – Action and Opportunities for Protecting Biodiversity Assets, a summary of the now completed project, what it has it has achieved with its many partners and where to from here. The project website can be found at www.dieback.net.au. 

A new project that has important implications for Phytophthora Dieback management in Australia and beyond is the WEJUGO project. We will be joined by project partners Mike Welling and Cameron Crowe (Leave No Trace Australia) to deliver the joint presentation How data and technology can aid in protected area management. Find out more about the Wejugo project at www.wejugo.com.   

After a career spanning 25 years with the Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife Service, Peter Grant has gained a wealth of knowledge and experience in communicating natural area management messages to the public. We’re going to be joined by, now retired, Peter to talk about Distillation or Dumbing Down? Using themes in communication. 

Dr John Scott, research fellow at the CSIRO will be presenting, for the first time, a global map of the current distribution of Phytophthora cinnamomi and talk about the climatic factors determining global distribution in Current and projected global distribution of Phytophthora cinnamomi.

The City of Joondalup’s Pathogen Management Plan has been landmark document in the management of Phytophthora Dieback and other pathogens in a Local Government context. The City’s Environmental Development Coordinator, Rebecca Maccario, for her presentation, City of Joondalup Pathogen Management Plan- Local government taking a holistic approach to managing pathogens in parks and natural areas.

To complete the speaker list, Dieback Working Group’s Executive Officer Kat Sambrooks will be taking to the stage to give an update on the activities of the group over the past year including some exciting new developments. With a line-up of speakers and presentations this good, you can’t afford to miss out on this year’s DIG Conference. The auditorium is filling fast – get your tickets at https://www.dwg.org.au/dig-conference.
Click on the link below to open the full speaker program. DIG 2016 Speaker Program