SCIENCE AT THE SHINE DOME canberra 6 - 8 may 2009

Chairs

Annual Symposium: Evolution of the universe, planets, life and thought
Friday, 8 May 2009

Professor Malcolm McCulloch FAA
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra

Malcolm McCulloch was awarded a PhD from Caltech and then returned to Australia to take-up a research fellowship at the Australian National University (ANU). At the ANU he was responsible for establishing a new range of geochemical approaches providing insights into the origin and evolution of the Earth's crust and mantle. For the past decade his research has focused on the growing problem of environmental and climate change in the Great Barrier Reef. From 300 to 400 year old coral skeletons he has shown how European settlement and intensive land-use practices has led to a five to ten fold increase in sediment and nutrient fluxes entering the reef. This has provided important quantitative evidence to support joint federal–state protective measures. More recently his research on the affects ocean acidification from rapidly increasing levels of atmospheric CO2 in coral reefs has the potential to severely reduce the ability of corals to form coral reefs.