Mr Craig Roy, Director Wealth from Oceans Flagship

Message from the Director

It is with a great sense of gratitude, pride and satisfaction that I pen my final Director's e-newsletter Update – as Friday 13 April 2007 is my last day at the helm of the Oceans Flagship before taking on different adventures and challenges. For those of you who are not aware, I have accepted a tremendous opportunity to join the CSIRO executive team and will be leading the strategic change programs.

As many of you would know, the oceans, their splendour, mystic and sheer force have been a passion of mine for most of my professional life and leading the Flagship for the past three and a half years has in many ways been a labour of love. When you leave a job it is often a time of reflection, and for me those reflections focus on the people that I have worked with and the difference that they have made – a great deal has been achieved over such a short period of time and this e-newsletter provides a very small window into the happenings over the past several months. I will touch on those a little later in the message.

At the foundations of our success to date has been a powerhouse of passionate and courageous people – they are passionate about what they do, its importance to our country and they have the courage to say and do what is right. The people are from both inside and outside CSIRO, from both science and non-science backgrounds with many of the scientists being international experts in their fields.

Unfortunately, it is impractical to acknowledge all of the several hundred individuals that have contributed to the Flagship in such an overview. That said, some absolutely key thought shapers and drivers of the Flagship have been Steve Rintoul, Andrew Ash, Keith Sainsbury, Mayela Rivero, Matthew England, Russell Reichelt and the other members of our Advisory Committee, Andreas Schiller, John Parslow, Cedric Griffiths, Tony Hirst, Tim Moltmann, Neville Smith, Rocky de Nys, Beverley Ronalds, Greg Ayers, Gary Meyers, Cathy Foley, David McDonald, John Church, Arnold Dekker, Alistair Hobday, Mark Howden, John Keesing, Steve Morton, Ron Sandland, Edson Nakagawa, Neil Loneragan, Commander Andrew McCrindell – all of these individuals have made lasting contributions to the Flagship. I would also like to thank Tony Haymet for his vision, passion and drive in making the Flagship a reality for without his contribution there would not be an Oceans Flagship. In the areas of communications and business development, the support provided by Craig Macaulay, Simon Torok, Jennifer Sutton and Jackie Zanetti has been valued highly. Finally, I would also like to personally acknowledge the excellent and tireless support of the Flagship Office team in Kate Wilson, Joanna Parr, Hella Sharon, Sylvia Bell and Wendy Reid.

The Flagship is in very safe hands with my colleague, Mr John Gunn, Deputy Chief of CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, taking on the Flagship Director's role in an acting capacity and you can read more in meet Meet Mr John Gunn.

In this Update you can read of some exciting developments and achievements over the past six months. In our regional development theme, in November 2006, we were pleased to announce the formation of the Oceans Flagship's first Collaboration Cluster. The Ningaloo Flagship Collaboration Fund Cluster brings together the research capacity of eight institutions to examine the problems affecting the management strategy for the Ningaloo Marine Park and adjacent coastal regions. The Cluster was announced by the Minister for Education, Science and Training and the Member for Curtin in WA, the Hon Julie Bishop on 23 November 2006 at Murdoch University. Read more about this important project at Research spotlight turns on Ningaloo region.

Also featured in this edition of Update are: the announcement of the final report from the Strategic Research Fund for the Marine Environment (SRFME); an overview of the Flagship's marine genomics research presented at the International Marine genomics Conference in 2006; and the achievements of the Kaharoa from New Zealand, a 28 metre research vessel that has deployed more than 400 Argo floats in our region. In an interesting development, one of the Argo floats was found in Mooloolaba in Queensland. You can read the story of this and its recovery in Needle hunt turns up a haystack.

We also bring you a report of satellite imagery showing River plumes on the outer Great Barrier Reef and a new research tool, ReefTemp, which uses satellite observations to provide daily updates of the risk of 'coral bleaching' in the Great Barrier Reef and other reefs in the Coral Sea.

In Hobart in March, the Flagship's Dr David Griffin co-convened the Ocean Satellite Topography Science Team (OSTST) with close to 200 international delegates attending. At this meeting, Dr Griffin presented on a large cold water eddy off the eastern Australian coats and the effect this was having on the east Australian current. The story attracted widespread Australian and international media interest. Read more in Cold-water eddy 'monsters' mighty current off Sydney.

A major Fellowship has been awarded to Flagship scientist, Dr Tom Okey, based in CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research in Cleveland, Queensland. The fellowship is awarded by the Pew Institute for Ocean Science in partnership with the University of Miami. You can read more about Dr Okey's award in Fellowship to study climate change impacts.

Members of the Flagship's research team have also attracted a number of external and internal awards and you can read about these in Award Winning Research.

In the industry association section in the newsletter, we profile the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) in Industry Link.

It has been a privilege to lead the Wealth from Oceans Flagship since 2003 and I look forward to seeing the Flagship continuing to push the boundaries of ocean based wealth generation and marine based economic, social and environmental prosperity.

I trust you enjoy reading Wealth from Oceans Update and the Flagship welcomes your feedback.

Craig Roy
Director, Wealth from Oceans Flagship
 

Update Home

Message from the Director

Research spotlight turns on Ningaloo region

WA peak marine research group issues report

Imagery shows outer Great Barrier Reef at risk from river plumes

Littlest ship an 'ocean science giant'

ReefTemp - Daily updates to assess Great Barrier Reef bleaching

Cold-water eddy 'monsters' mighty current off Sydney

Genomics builds marine know-how

Needle hunt turns up a haystack

Flagship Award Winning Research

Meet Mr John Gunn Wealth from Oceans Acting Director
 
Meet Mr John Gunn

INDUSTRY LINK:

The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association

The Wealth from Oceans Flagship is a CSIRO initiative and part of the National Research Flagships program that aims to deliver scientific solutions to advance Australia's most important national objectives. One of the largest scientific initiatives ever mounted in Australia, it aligns closely with the Federal Government's National Research Priorities. The initiative brings together our national research resources to deliver breakthroughs in fields ranging from healthcare to light metals and the environment.

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