Presented by Dr Maurizio Rossetto (Royal Botanic Garden Sydney). Part of the University of Sydney Archaeology, Museums and Heritage Seminar series.
Our research combines genomic data with a range of other investigative approaches including environmental modelling, functional ecology and more recently Indigenous knowledge. Although we study the Australian flora in general, much of our research has focused on rainforest trees, with a particular interest on how temporal environmental change and dispersal affect landscape-level dynamics. We are unravelling a highly dynamic history for Australian rainforests which enabled species and communities to respond to change through time, and maintain remarkable levels of diversity within relatively small areas. I will explore how dispersal is a key process in plant spatial dynamics impacting on the distribution and assembly of communities, and how people have differentially impacted on the regulation of this and other ecological and environmental filtering processes through time.
About the presenter: Dr Maurizio Rossetto is the Senior Principal Research Scientist at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. He is a passionate researcher who utilises the best technologies to advance conservation in Australia and the world. Over twenty years ago he spent time studying rainforest ecology, inspired by the unique pockets of rainforest that remain in NSW known as the Big Scrub. From here, he has developed two main concepts for his work. The first is measuring biodiversity or understanding the current distribution of species. The second is measuring adaptation or understanding how and why species respond to changing environments.
Maurizio has also helmed the flagship conservation program, Restore & Renew, which began in 2015. The purpose of this project is to provide restoration practitioners with a tool that will help them to best rejuvenate and conserve our environments.
When: 4-5pm (Sydney time / AEST), Thursday 20 May 2021
Where: Education Room, Level 3, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney, and online via zoom