The Global Carbon Budget and Australia's role
Hear from Dr Pep Canadell FTSE and Dr Will Howard as they explore the science behind global carbon cycles and Australia’s critical role in shaping future climate strategies.
Date
Thursday 27 February 2025
Time
12:00 PM - 2:00 PMThe ACT Division Committee are excited to welcome you to the first of our hybrid seminars for 2025. This year’s seminars will explore the nexus between global change, including climate change, sustainable development goals (SDG’s) and policy – all issues that are critically important and relevant for ATSE, our nation, and the planet.
February’s hybrid seminar, “The Global Carbon Budget and Australia’s Role”, sets the scene with two outstanding speakers, Dr Pep Canadell from CSIRO and Dr Will Howard from the Australian Government Climate Change Authority. Our speakers will explain the global carbon cycle that determines levels of CO2 – the main greenhouse gas leading to anthropogenic climate change; demonstrate how much more CO2 humans can emit in the coming decades if we are to limit warming; describe the emerging risks that might threaten this “global carbon budget”; explain how this global information can be translated for Australian policy and decision-making; and identify some of the current research and technology challenges.
ATSE Fellow, and Chair of the ACT Division Committee, Dr Helen Cleugh will be our Chair.
We hope you can join us in person or online for what will be an informative and relevant seminar. For those who can attend at ATSE’s Head Office in Forrest, a light lunch will be available from 12 noon – providing refreshments and a chance to catch up with friends and colleagues.
Speakers
Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO
Pep is a Chief Research Scientist in CSIRO Environment, Chief Lead Investigator in the Climate Systems Hub of the National Environmental Science Program, and Executive Director of the Global Carbon Project, a global consortium of scientists under the umbrella of Future Earth and a scientific partner of the World Climate Research Programme.
Pep holds a BSc, a MSc, and a PhD degree in Biology and Terrestrial Ecology from the University Autonomous of Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain). Upon completing his PhD and throughout the 1990s, Pep held three research positions in the USA at San Diego State University, University of California at Berkeley, and Stanford University, after which he moved to CSIRO in Australia, where he has worked since.
Pep holds a BSc, a MSc, and a PhD degree in Biology and Terrestrial Ecology from the University Autonomous of Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain). Upon completing his PhD and throughout the 1990s, Pep held three research positions in the USA at San Diego State University, University of California at Berkeley, and Stanford University, after which he moved to CSIRO in Australia, where he has worked since.
Dr Will Howard
Lead Scientist, Commonwealth Government Climate Change Authority
Lead Scientist, Commonwealth Government Climate Change Authority
Dr Will Howard is Lead Scientist at the Commonwealth Government Climate Change Authority, working across climate science and adaptation, climate policy, negative emissions and other issues.
He got a Ph.D in Geological Sciences from Brown University in the USA, was a U.S. Department of Energy Global Change Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University, a lecturer in oceanography at the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole USA, a researcher at the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre.
He worked at the Office of the Chief Scientist in Canberra from 2010 to 2017, serving as Head of Science there in 2016-17.
He got a Ph.D in Geological Sciences from Brown University in the USA, was a U.S. Department of Energy Global Change Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University, a lecturer in oceanography at the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole USA, a researcher at the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre.
He worked at the Office of the Chief Scientist in Canberra from 2010 to 2017, serving as Head of Science there in 2016-17.
