Waitī Waitā conference presentations

We’re proud to have sponsored Waitī Waitā – The NZMSS & NZFSS Joint Conference, 21 – 24 November 2022.

The combined meeting of the New Zealand Marine and Freshwater Science Societies acknowledged the connectivity between marine and freshwater ecosystems – a critical relationship to understand, especially when it comes to managing our estuaries.

We had a number of researchers involved in our mahi speaking at the conference.

Degradation and recovery theme leader Conrad Pilditch chaired a session on Cumulative effects of multiple stressor impacts and management in the coastal zone, involving talks from a number of researchers involved in Sustainable Seas.

Included in this session:

• Simon Thrush – Ecological consequences of cumulative effects
• Jasmine Low – Using ecological response footprints to understand and manage cumulative effects
• Rebecca Gladstone-Gallagher – Frameworks to manage for marine ecosystem recovery
• Joanne Ellis – Risk assessment frameworks to guide cumulative effects management in marine spaces 
• Drew Lohrer – A multi-partner initiative to turn the tide in estuaries: project description and initial results
• Judi Hewitt – Improving estuarine health: why can’t we get it right

Sustainable Seas linked research was also referenced by the following speakers throughout the conference:

• Elizabeth Harrison – Predicting changes in the ecosystem service provision of estuarine bivalves in response to cumulative stressor effects
• Lolita Rynkowski – A systematic review and meta-analysis of the cumulative effects of multiple stressors on marine bivalves
• Fabrice Stephenson – Conservation of deep-water corals in the face of multiple stressors in the New Zealand region
• Zhanchao Shao – Monitoring estuarine water quality with remotely-sensed parameters in Tauranga Harbour
• Karin Bryan – Using simplified bio-physical numerical modelling to manage the effects of nutrients in estuaries: case studies from Tauranga Harbour
• Natalie Prinz – Large bivalves as potential bioremediators of degraded soft-sediment ecosystem multifunctionality
• Vera Rullens – Understanding the consequences of sea level rise: the ecological implications of losing intertidal habitat
• Kelsey Miller – Large-scale sea urchin removal as a tool for restoring kelp forests in northeastern New Zealand
• Ethan Russell – Feeding ecology of toheroa and implications for aquaculture
• Marieka van der Lee – The dynamics of toheroa recruitment and implications for aquaculture
• Megan Ranapia – Pātangaroa: Co-developing management strategies for the eleven-armed starfish outbreak in Ōhiwa Harbour
• Kiri Reihana – Mātauranga Māori used to lead the transdisciplinary knowledge systems approach informing co-management practices of Tuangi populations in Ōhiwa harbour
• Carolyn Lundquist – Development of a seafloor model of disturbance impacts on benthic structure in the Hawke’s Bay