Lucy Cranwell Lecture 2017 “Living the life aquatic” Paul Champion

Post date: Aug 22, 2017 8:14:20 PM

Speaker: Paul Champion Freshwater Biosecurity & Principal Scientist - Freshwater Ecology at NIWA, Hamilton.

Wednesday 6 September Auckland War Memorial Museum, 7.00pm

Note the earlier start time to bot soc's normal meeting time.

Access to the Museum - Entry by the South Door; there is no entry charge for this lecture

The state and use of New Zealand’s freshwater resources is currently a frequently discussed and often polarizing topic. Paul will briefly discuss the state and trends of our freshwaters, but will then focus on things botanical. The aquatic environment is fundamentally very different to growing on land and poses major challenges to the plants that grow in this habitat. He’ll discuss the different strategies that plants have evolved to survive in water. Aquatic plants tend to be poorly studied, compared to their terrestrial counterparts. Paul will give a quick overview of the native freshwater plants of New Zealand, highlighting some nationally threatened plants. Finally, he will look at the threats affecting these uniquely adapted plants and some potential ways to conserve them.

Paul Champion is Program Leader - Freshwater Biosecurity & Principal Scientist - Freshwater Ecology at NIWA, based in Hamilton. Paul has specialist expertise in biosecurity, plant ecology and conservation of endangered plant species, especially in freshwater and wetland habitats. Focus research areas include assessment of weed potential of introduced plants, management of aquatic weeds, assessment of environmental impacts of freshwater pest invasions, weed control strategies and restoration of habitats impacted by invasive weeds.