Science and humanities may be at opposite ends of the academic spectrum, but the disciplines will come together at a climate change conference to be held at Harvard University in 2010.
Two UQ PhD students – Lucy Robinson and Petrina Schiavi – have secured places at the Climate: Science + Humanities conference, which aims to highlight and sharpen work displaying genuine disciplinary crossover on the issue of climate change.
Ms Robinson’s research focuses on predicting the impact of climate change on the distribution of marine fish, while Ms Schiavi is investigating the significance of trust to the social and environmental performance of large corporations, and the implications of this for regulatory strategy.
“This conference appealed to me as I am interested in the ecological, social and economic implications of climate change impacts on marine life,” Ms Robinson said.
“Attending this conference should facilitate discussion on these implications in both an academic and applied sense.”
Using mathematical and statistical models, Ms Robinson hopes to assess potential changes in the distribution of commercially and ecologically valuable marine fish species under future climate change scenarios.
“In modelling the impact of climate change on future fish distributions there are a number of sources of potential error or uncertainty,” she said.
“I would like to quantify some of these potential error sources to improve our ecological understanding of how fish may respond to future climate change, but I would also like to see how uncertainty in our model results could influence Australia’s fisheries and conservation management decisions.”
Ms Schiavi, who practiced as a lawyer for several years before returning to UQ to undertake a PhD in sociology through the School of Social Science and the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, said she was pleased to be attending a conference which brought together delegates from diverse backgrounds.
“I was attracted to the multi-disciplinary nature of the conference, with its focus on the dynamics between science and humanities in the context of climate change,” she said.
“I was also keen to learn more about the research of other PhD students in this field, and to build some networks with other scholars. And the fact that it was being held at Harvard University was a bit of a drawcard too!”
One of Ms Schiavi’s key interests is the role of trust in climate policymaking, which she will be exploring in her presentation at Harvard, with a focus on the Australian coal industry.
“Levels of trust in scientific evidence that supports or denies the existence of man-made climate change helps shape public attitudes towards climate policy,” she said.
“Trust is also central to the acceptability or otherwise of technical solutions that seek to address some of the problems of climate change.
“Large corporations are key social actors in the context of climate change. Many corporations actively support scientific research and develop and promote technical solutions to climate change, and my research is interested in the broader implications of this.”
Ms Schiavi, whose PhD is now under assessment, is currently working as a research associate at the Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet), the Australian National University.
“My present research looks at the role of large corporations in shaping global climate policy,” she said.
Ms Robinson hopes to complete her PhD by mid 2011 and plans to embark on a research career.
“I am keen to continue with applied and cross-disciplinary scientific research and am also interested in exploring science communication through visual media,” she said.
“I also hope to spend more time in the water for work and pleasure, observing the animals I have been modelling.”
Bringing together approximately 35 students representing the Australian Group of Eight Universities, the Consortium of China 9 Research Universities and Harvard University, the Climate: Science + Humanities conference runs from March 3-4, 2010.
Sixteen Australian students will be in attendance – one science and one humanities PhD candidate from each Group of Eight institution.
Media: Penny Robinson at UQ Communications (07 3365 9723, penny.robinson@uq.edu.au)
