Vanessa Lucieer, Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute

From 29 April to 2 May 2008, CERF hub researcher Vanessa Lucieer attended the 9th International GeoHab (Geological and Marine Habitat mapping) conference in Sitka, Alaska.  Sixty-kilometre-an-hour horizontal rain welcomed the usual crowd of “Geohabbers” to Sitka airport, on a small reclaimed land strip in the Inner Passage.  The remote location attracted 120 participants from 23 countries enabling an international update on research and ideas on marine habitat mapping projects. Vanessa presented a paper on ‘Assessing the robustness of a morphometric classification model’ which is related to her postdoctoral research in the Marine Hub.  (This research describes a benthic morphometric classification model to produce a classification of the seafloor to identify features at multiple scales.)

The conference was sponsored by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the University of Alaska, and the Circum-Pacific Council. The theme of this year’s conference was Deep-sea Marine Benthic Habitats and High-seas Marine Protected Areas which attracted a wide variety of research topics. The book of abstracts can be downloaded from http://geohab.org/docs/geohab_sitka2008.pdf

The much awaited GeoHab book ‘Mapping the Seafloor for habitat characterization’ edited by Brian J. Todd and H. Gary Greene was proudly displayed at the registration desk of GeoHab 2008. The papers in this anticipated volume represent the “latest” results in the field of marine benthic habitat mapping, characterization and application. This volume is intended as a useful reference for mapping practitioners and as a supplement to students of marine habitat mapping. The book can be ordered online at http://www.gac.ca/publications/view_pub.php?id=190

The 8th GeoHab meeting will be held from 5 to 7 May 2009 in Trondheim, Norway, at the premises of the Geological Survey of Norway.  The themes for the 2009 conference will include:

• Linking geology and biology – new developments in the use of proxies for ecosystem characterization 

• Acoustic and statistical methods for substrate and biota classification and modelling 

• Arctic habitats and climate change

More info:  http://geohab.org/sitka.html