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New leader for climate change programs
Researching brightly-coloured sea slugs which can store chemical toxins might seem a world apart from tackling the huge global issue of climate change.
But not for marine scientist Dr Shireen Fahey, who is the University of the Sunshine Coast’s new coordinator of postgraduate programs in Climate Change Adaptation, Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Environmental Change Management.
With more than 30 years experience including marine research, environmental assessment and management, and university teaching, Dr Fahey is excited about her new role in helping society prepare for and adapt to the likely effects of climate change.
Her appointment at USC followed several years of consultancy work for private and government organisations as a principal environmental scientist.
This work included conducting and reviewing baseline assessments for aquatic discharges from the Western Corridor Recycled Water project and the Tugun desalination plant, and assessing the watercourse crossings for the South-East Queensland water pipeline corridor.
However, Dr Fahey said it was her earlier research into mollusc diversity that sparked her interest in climate change.
Dr Fahey completed her Masters degree in Marine Biology at California State University in San Francisco before returning to Australia in 2000 to do her PhD in Marine Science at the University of Queensland.
“My doctorate at UQ was on evolution, and the animal I chose to study was the nudibranch genus Halgerda (a type of mollusc)” she said. “These organisms are brightly coloured and sequester toxins when they consume sponges as part of their natural diet.”
Dr Fahey said her laboratory tests on these toxins showed they could destroy leukaemia cells.
“If we destroy reefs, intentionally or otherwise, what are we losing? For one thing, we’re going to lose possible cancer cures,” she said. “That led me to consider the effects of warmer water on coral reefs and the effects of climate change on water temperatures.”
Dr Fahey’s research of molluscs has also involved scuba diving at reefs off Australia, the Philippines, Madagascar and the Caribbean where she has discovered and named dozens of new mollusc species.
She recently co-authored an article about new species of molluscs that has been accepted by the world-renowned Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
“In any highly-developed ecosystem, such as coral reefs and rainforests, we are currently losing species faster than we are discovering them,” she said. “Our coral reefs are right off our coastlines, including Mooloolaba, so we really need to look at how human activities impact the water.”
Dr Fahey has stepped into the role previously held by Associate Professor Peter Waterman, who is still working part-time with the University of the Sunshine Coast.
She is proud that USC was the first university to introduce postgraduate programs in Climate Change Adaptation and to have the world’s first Masters graduates in this field.
Her goals at USC include promoting greater research opportunities for students, strengthening ties with the University’s research partners and contributing to a greater understanding of climate change adaptation.
Dr Fahey said scientists had a crucial role to play in the current debate about human-induced climate change.
“Whether climate change is human caused or naturally caused, we have large populations living on the coast that will experience significant disruption as sea levels rise,” she said.
“We can’t separate the science and the issue of climate change,” she said. “As scientists, we have to keep presenting scientific discoveries about climate change. Our programs at USC will help society manage the influences of a changing climate on the environment, on plants and animals, and on our populations.”
For more details about postgraduate study at the University of the Sunshine Coast, contact (07) 5430 2890 or visit the USC website.
— Terry Walsh