WAMSI Board meeting in Broome

ATTN NEWS EDITORS/CHIEFS OF STAFF

12 August 2009

The Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI) Board is meeting today aboard the RV Solander in the Port of Broome.

The RV Solander is one of Australia’s principal research vessels owned and operated by the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

The board is taking the opportunity to meet local stakeholders in a bid to further communicate the requirements for a regional marine science program to be established in the Kimberley-Browse marine region.

WAMSI Chairman Dr Peter Rogers said that WAMSI and its 16 partner organisations are fully committed to the long-term engagement with the Kimberley community to ensure that a marine science program gets established in the coming years for the benefit of all.

In particular WAMSI is working with Aboriginal traditional owners to ensure the bringing together of Western scientific knowledge with traditional Aboriginal knowledge to assist with understanding the marine environment seasonality effects and likely long-term climate change impacts.

WAMSI released a report, A turning of the tide: science for decisions in the Kimberley-Browse marine region, in October 2008 which is available from the WAMSI website at www.wamsi.org.au

For further information contact the WAMSI Chairman, Dr Peter Rogers, on 0419 939 135.