AER Live: Free online workshops
Applied Ecology Resources is delighted to present a series of free, monthly workshops.

Applied Ecology Resources is a novel information repository to preserve, share and discover information on the management of biodiversity and the environment which will be launching in full soon.
Join us for a series of free, interactive, online workshops covering a range of useful topics for applied ecologists and practitioners.
Workshops will take place once a month and will be 45 mins long, with an interactive Q&A session.
Our next workshop will be:
What is the value of monitoring, evidence, data and science for nature conservation outcomes?
Thursday 18 February 09:00 GMT / 19:00 AEST
by Professor Hugh Possingham, Queensland Chief Scientist
Most conservation scientists were trained in ecology (although that is changing rapidly) and as ecologists, we were trained to pose and test null hypotheses about how ecological systems work. But has this training served us well for gathering the most important information for delivering conservation outcomes?
I will discuss different aspects of data, science, and evidence, how it can be used for conservation, and argue that maybe the most interesting ecological questions are not always the data that will make the biggest difference on the ground.

About the speaker
Hugh Possingham is a world-renowned scientist with a highly distinguished career during which he has published over 610 peer-reviewed papers and supervised 135 doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows. He has years of experience working in the interface between science policy and practice, is the former Chief Scientist of The Nature Conservancy, and sits on the AER Advisory Board.
Register for this workshop
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Future workshops
- March 2021 – To be announced
- April 2021 – Dr Koustubh Sharma, Snow Leopard Trust
Koustubh Sharma has been involved in active research and conservation for 18 years. He is working with the Snow Leopard Trust, Seattle, USA as a Senior Regional Ecologist since 2007, and since 2014, has taken additional charge as the International Coordinator of the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystems Protection Program (GSLEP) whose secretariat is based in Bishkek. At the GSLEP Program, Koustubh leads a small team with support from international organizations to coordinate this unique alliance that brings together governments of the 12 snow leopard range countries, Non-Government Organizations and Conservationists.
Koustubh’s workshop will be focused on his team’s recently published article in Ecological Solutions and Evidence about the ethical use of camera traps in wildlife research.
Past workshops
All AER Live workshops are recorded and uploaded to our Youtube channel. Catch up on all our previous talks below:
- Tuesday 15 September Dr Harriet Downey, Conservation Science Group, University of Cambridge – Data to decisions: integrating scientific evidence into conservation decision-making
- Thursday 22 October Matthew Bowell, Atkins – Exchanging knowledge through grey literature: Guidance and encouragement for contributors from outside academia
- Wednesday 11 November Dr Nancy Ockendon, Endangered Landscapes Programme, University of Cambridge – Designing experiments to improve conservation practice
- Friday 04 December Dr Namrata Shrestha & Dr Luke Potgieter, Toronto and Region Conservation & University of Toronto – Prioritizing invasive plant management in an urban environment