BES Facebook pageBES Annual Meeting 2008
Imperial College London, UK
3 - 7 September 2008
The BES is pleased to announce its 2008 Annual Meeting will be held at Imperial College London. It will be another stimulating mix of cutting edge science, career events and opportunities to network with a diverse, international collection of delegates based at the South Kensington campus.
The main meeting will run from 3 - 5 September, with a dedicated Student Meeting on 2 September.
The BES is proud to be able to announce a wealth of eminent speakers. Below is an example of the high calibre joining us at the meeting:
Wednesday 3 September
Biodiversity I
13:40 - 14:20
Professor Lloyd Peck
Theme Leader Biodiversity, NERC
The NERC strategy and biodiversity.
NERC has embarked on a new strategy. Science will now be supported through Responsive mode (blue skies) funding, Research Programmes and National Capability. In Research Programmes there are 7 themes. One of these is Biodiversity. This presentation will discuss the new NERC strategy and delivery mechanisms with emphasis on the Biodiversity theme.
Thursday 4 September
Agroecology - Sustainable Management and Development
14:10 - 14:50
Professor Louise Heathwaite
NERC Theme Leader, Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Co-Director, Centre for Sustainable Water Management, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, UK
Insights into the NERC sustainable use of natural resources theme.
On a global scale, the main pressures on natural resources come from climate change and population growth, together with societal expectations for quality of life and wealth, which is increasingly resource demanding. The overarching goal of the NERC Sustainable Use of Natural Resources (SUNR) theme is to help deliver the fundamental science to ensure informed choices on the equitable use and allocation of natural resources. An environmental systems framework will guide this theme to enable an integrative rather than reductionist study of the complex interactions that surround natural resource use. The grand challenge is to understand better the entirety of processes and consequent outcomes of natural resource use on freshwater, terrestrial and marine systems, and on feedbacks to the atmosphere.
There are three high level priorities in the SUNR theme:
(1) predicting the environmental outcomes of natural resource use for renewable and non-renewable energy using a systems approach
(2) developing an integrated water-soil life support system, and
(3) bringing environmental valuation into mainstream thinking.
Actions in each priority area will develop and deliver the cutting-edge science through annual Theme Action Plans that identify the strategic research needs for each NERC theme. The breadth of the SUNR theme will engage much of the NERC community, in particular the freshwater, terrestrial, marine and earth sciences. Delivering these science priorities will make a significant contribution to two major cross-Council multidisciplinary research priorities: Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) and the Research Councils Energy Programme (RCEP).
This presentation will explain the actions in the first SUNR Theme Action Plan presented to NERC Council in July 2008.
Friday 5 September
Conservation II
09:10 - 09:50
Dr. Tom Tew
Chief Scientist, Natural England
The future of environmental conservation?
The challenges for nature conservation are increasing, both globally and nationally. Existing pressures on land use continue to grow, exacerbated both directly and indirectly by climate change. What responses do conservationists have? What are the new paradigms for a national response to deliver a healthy natural environment?
